95 Percent Love
by AgentDolly
Summary: AU: Amy Rose is failing in her academic life. Finally, a family friend named Shadow steps in, offering to let her stay at his place to attend his college. After a happy reunion with her friends, she must learn how to cope with the high expectations at Chaos College. Soon, she must worry about more than academics as her friends and love life corner her. (NO SEQUEL)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome one and all to my third story on fanfiction! I have no idea how to introduce this, but lemme just say this! This is based off my favorite movie! It's not in English, that's why it isn't a cross over. I changed the plot so I wouldn't get 'copyrighted.' Anyway, I'm going to reply to some reviews from my last story!**

**werewolf lover99: Thanks! I'm working on it. ;)**

**AgentDolly: That's shown when I decide to post up that other chapter.**

**_Re-written as of 5/20/14_**

Amy Rose the hedgehog was bored. She was sitting inside a train, going to stay at her friend Shadow's. She seriously needed to pick up on academics. She wasn't dumb, for sure, but the only thing she was amazing at was painting. Her family had wanted her to concentrate on education, and that's when Shadow stepped in. He offered to let her stay at his house since his sister, Maria, had unfortunately passed away in an accident. Then Amy could study at his college, which was really good.

Now Amy was on a dirty train, the only one she could afford without spending a lot of money. She had been inside a compartment all to herself for the past 3 hours, and was terribly bored. She couldn't exactly draw on this jolting train, and reading was giving her a headache. She didn't want to use her phone for fear that it would run out of charge.

"Hey…"

Amy looked up at the sound of the male's voice. She met eyes with a green hedgehog, with ice blue eyes. He had an easily remembered leather jacket with flames curling up the sleeves. Amy automatically recognized the local player, and sighed.

"You all alone?" Scourge asked, sitting down next to Amy. Just by the sound of his voice you could tell he was drunk…though only god knows how he got drunk in a moving train without soaking himself.

"Mph," was the only reply Scourge received. He chuckled and crossed his arms behind his head, grinning at Amy. When he received no reply, he scooted closer to the poor pink hedgehog.

"Get lost," Amy muttered.

"Heh, why would we want that, babe?"

"Don't call me that and go take a hike," Amy said, reaching into her purse. Scourge took no notice of the action and leaned closer to her.

"Why? Don't you like-ARGH!"

The cause of the interruption was the fact that Amy had suddenly pulled at a whopping big hammer, and smashed it as hard as she could on Scourge's head.

"F*** YOU!" Scourge yelled, taking a furious swipe at her and missing. Amy rolled her eyes as Scourge stumbled out of the compartment, clutching his head in pain.

"Thank god," She said, noticing the train was coming to a stop. The pink hedgehog grabbed a duffel bag by her feet, and quickly exited the train. She didn't want to stay in there longer than she had to. The last thing she wanted was the bump into Scourge again, and if she could recall, he had a gang of his own.

Immediately she regretted the decision, as the crowd shoved her in to the midst of the bustling train station. Amy groaned and tried to push against the crowd. Frustrated, she almost took out her hammer.

After a while, she started to go with the flow, and was ushered into the safety of the parking lot. With a relieved sigh, Amy sat down at a bench located at the doors, waiting for Shadow to come. He had called 5 minutes before the Scourge incident, informing her he had important matters to attend and would be 5 minutes late in picking her up.

Slumping down to a tired position, Amy sighed and buried her face in her hands. She hadn't even arrived and already she had run into trouble in the form of a player. Now here she was, at first glance seeming to be a pitiful figure, but on double take just a weary traveler.

"Hello Rose."

"EEPS!"

Amy screamed and jumped up, turning around to face an ebony hedgehog with bold red highlights smirking at her. Of course…the one and only Shadow the Hedgehog. The silent one, anti-social, but still cared for his friends. Also the only one to call Amy Rose. By that I mean Rose. By Rose I mean her last name-oh, you get it.

"Come on, I can't stand this place. There are too many idiots roaming around," Shadow said, using the same word choice as Amy had been thinking. Amy grabbed her duffel bag, and followed Shadow with a hopeful smile. Maybe the first day wasn't going to be all that bad.

To Amy's surprise, Shadow led her to a motorcycle parked in one of the first spots. It was black, with a red sign on it-which Amy guessed to be Shadow's.

"Come on," Shadow said. Amy had been so busy taking in the motorcycle; she had not noticed Shadow swing on easily. A bit startled, Amy clambered on unprofessionally.

"Hold on," Shadow muttered, tossing a helmet behind. Amy grabbed the bright red item, and jammed it on her head, fastening the strap. Placing her hands on the back part of the motorcycle, the teenager decided to raise a question.

"How faaaarrrrrrrr-?!"

Shadow kicked off in the middle of her sentence, smirking at Amy's slight scream at the sudden start. Easily maneuvering through obstructing cars, Shadow only kept going faster. The way he saw it, if everybody goes fast, then how do the cops stop you? It wasn't that he enjoyed breaking the law-he enjoyed speed. Amy gasped and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Why are you going so f-f-fast?" She stuttered.

Shadow smirked through his helmet, "This is fast? Then you haven't seen anything…"

With that, he practically smashed his foot on the gas pedal, making Amy scream in terror. Tightening her grip, Amy buried her face in Shadow's back. Oddly enough…a faint pink tinge could be seen through a certain someone's helmet.

After but 5 minutes (and 25 miles), Shadow slowly pressed the brakes to a stop. Amy opened her eyes and loosened her grip, letting go of Shadow, and swinging off of the motorcycle a tad more professionally. It was surprising she could do this, with all the glory she was taking in from the structure in front of her.

Shadow had parked in front of a large cream colored mansion, with huge pillars and even a fountain in the middle. There was a neatly trimmed lawn, and the motorcycle was the only vehicle to be seen. But it looked…lonely.

However, Amy's jaw dropped in awe. Shadow glanced at her as he took off his helmet. Noticing she still had her helmet on, Shadow reached over and took it off for her. Amy didn't protest, in fact, she didn't pay him any mind whatsoever as she stood rooted to the spot, wondering when Shadow had acquired such a house. Shadow rolled his eyes in amusement, aware of the awe radiating from the mansion.

"Come on, there's more to see," Shadow said with a grim smile, walking towards the huge doors.

**Short introduction, but there will be more next time. Yes, Amy is OOC slightly. **

**_(5/20/14): _She doesn't chase Sonic…at the moment. But Sally's here, if that explains anything. Sally is not OOC. She's herself; the one from the Archie comics. Well, not the Acorn princess, but her leadership and friendliness. **

**Go ahead and flame if you don't like the story! ;) Just please no cursing, because that's against reviewing rules. Thanks for reading and I hope you like this so far! I've got 12 chapters up as of 5/20/14. Anyway, I'll see you in Chapter 2! Just click the next button!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Replies:**

**werewolf lover99: Amy will only be slightly OOC. The only Out Of Character part is when she doesn't chase after Sonic. Her optimistic and bubbly personality is the same. Also, will it be alright if I use your OCs as lecturers? Thanks!**

**aliciathewolf45: Thanks so much! For reviewing and following! :) **

**AgentDolly: Thanks bestie! **

**_Edited 5/22/14_**

Amy stumbled after Shadow after a few moments, lagging quite a bit behind. Shadow simply glanced back and raised a…"eyebrow". Amy quickly caught up with him, having trouble not gawking at the glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Shadow walked at a quickening pace, with Amy practically running to keep up with him. An awkward silence was enveloping the two. Shadow never attempted to make any conversation, and Amy was waiting for him to say something.

Thankfully, Amy's cellphone rang out from her purse. Shadow paused for a moment, taking Amy's duffel bag from her so she could answer the call. Amy smiled gratefully as she rummaged through her purse for her phone. Finally, after pulling out a hammer, lipstick, chocolate, love notes, and other 'necessities' Amy pulled out the iPhone that was blasting out the tune of "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. Shadow gave the phone a disapproving glare as Amy answered it.

"Hello? Yeah I know…there's Caller ID…Yep, everything's cool. I'm at Shadow's. I'd better go, mom. Shadow's giving my phone the evil eye. Yep. I know, I know, I will! Bye!"

Shadow's shoulders slumped every single time Amy said "mom", not to the pink hedgehog's notice. Amy ended the short phone call and cheerfully tossed all her items back into her purse. Shadow automatically regained his grumpy composition as Amy turned towards him. She reached out for her duffel bag, but Shadow didn't give it to her. He simply walked towards a flight of marble stairs a yard away. Amy shrugged and followed after the moody hedgehog.

Walking up the stairs, the heroine's flip flops made a plop sound as they hit the soles of her feet. The noises were echoed throughout the unfurnished hall, and Shadow glanced back at her. Amy blushed slightly in embarrassment, and Shadow looked away. With that, Amy took this opportunity to examine the chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling. A lot of homes had chandeliers-but they were cheaper and non-usable ones. This one had a light switch at the beginning of the stairs, and Amy could see it was made out of glass.

Oddly enough, she started thinking about the Phantom of the Opera. There was a chandelier involved in that movie, but she had no idea why she thought that the two looked like each other. Looking up, Amy realized that Shadow was impatiently waiting for her at the top of the stairs. Amy picked up the pace, and hurried up to meet the disgruntled being. Following Shadow, Amy curiously examined the paintings hanging on the walls.

Inside the guest room, Shadow set the duffel bag next to the queen sized bed. It was one of the plainer rooms, but still cozy-just the way Amy liked it. She grinned gratefully at her friend as he exited. Shadow didn't return the gesture, only commented, "I need to go study."

"Hold on one second!" Amy said, remembering the question she had wanted to ask from the beginning of the train ride. Shadow paused, his foot in mid-air. He pivoted around using the foot that was still on the ground, and setting his right foot down.

"What, Rose?"

"Mom said you're the number uno in academics! You're percentage itself is 96! How do you do it? I can't do any of that!" Although it was intended as a question, it came out more as a plea of help. Amy, realizing this, anxiously bit her lip waiting for an answer. She didn't exactly want to sound desperate, and this wasn't the first conversation she had wanted to bring up with Shadow. But college started in a day, and she wanted to step her game up.

"As long as you study, anybody can get good grades."

Amy turned the phrase around and around her head as Shadow walked down the stairs into his own room after closing the door. With a sigh, she picked the duffel bag from the ground, and dumped out its contents on the bed. She had completely forgotten that that train departed today, and had paid the price by not being able to pack all the necessities of a year. She was sure that she could find most of the stuff she needed at Wal-Mart or Target, with the limited money she had.

Let's see…7 outfits. All of them red dresses, with one or more white stripes. Different styles now and then, but the color scheme was the same. Amy looked at them with a frown. School-girl style wouldn't cut it at college. The older students were very judging, and you don't want to get on the wrong side of them.

Unfortunately, Amy didn't have enough money at the moment without her after-school job. Her parents had given her a solid 300 dollars (US) so that she could buy some necessities.

Suddenly, a flash of remembrance struck Amy. How could Amy forget about her best friend?! She lived near Shadow, quite a distance from Amy, but Amy and she remained the best of friends. The rush of moving into the mansion, the green hedgehog, the motorcycle, and just plain out anxiousness had driven Amy's thoughts away from her best friend.

Amy grabbed her purse that was sitting on the cream-colored night stand, and started throwing stuff behind her as she searched for her phone. She finally pulled out the iPhone 4S that was decorated with a pink cover with a rose on it.

Amy typed in her 4 digit password, and clicked on the GUI for calling. Scrolling through her recent calls (which were many) Amy found the one she was looking for. A name printed in red-indicating a missed call. Amy tapped on the name to call her best friend.

After several rings, the call was answered. There was sound of something falling in the background, a female voice screaming something, and another female voice yelling for the girl to stop yelling. Then yet another female voice answering.

**_Hello?_**

"Uh, hey, Rouge! It's Amy!"

**_Duh, there's something called Caller ID, hun._**

"Heh, forgot about that…?"

**_Seriously, hun. Get with the program._**

"Sorry! Sorry! Was that Cream and Blaze in the background."

**_Yeah. Anyways, why did you call?_**

"You figured out this isn't a pleasantry call, huh?"

**_Yep._**

"Two words: Fashion. Emergency."

**_YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!_**

"ROUGE! You just made my ears bleed!" Amy shouted, holding the phone a good distance away. She still heard Rouge chuckle loudly at her response.

**_Okay, okay. We'll pick you up! Cream and Blaze will be SO happy to see you again!_**

"And you won't?"

**_Ha ha. Very funny, pinkie. Be ready to go in 5. _**

"Okay! See ya!"

**_See ya, hun._**

Amy smiled as she turned off her cellphone, and dropped it back in the purse. She didn't bother to worry about the little event Rouge didn't want to tell her about. Her bat friend had many secrets, and Amy knew Rouge would tell her if they were important. But still, it was going to be fun.

**I updated Chapter 1. Maria did not go on a visit, she passed away. Anyway…I was sick today, so I decided to update the new chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Before we start replies, something important I completely forgot to mention. The account "AgentDolly" is a shared account. There's the real AgentDolly, who created this account, and me-MeadowHasCome. Also, the name of the movie which I got inspiration from (and my favorite!) is 100 Percent Love. Alicia the Wolf belongs to aliciathewolf45. **

**Replies:**

**aliciathewolf45: Thanks! :)**

**AgentDolly: Yeah, I just noticed that FFN wouldn't carry the percent sign. I added the word "percent" in. **

**werewolf lover99: Aww…thanks, bud! God, it feels weird calling somebody 15 years older than me "bud." Oddly enough, I made a typo when typing 15…I typed 154…0.o I do feel better, maybe because school's off on Monday and Tuesday for Election Day…)**

**RedHog Breaking: Thanks! I'm trying to update quickly. What do you like about the story so far?**

**And please welcome a new follower, pikypiky1! ON TO THE STORY!**

Amy tapped her foot impatiently waiting for Rouge to drive up. She was standing in front of the door of Shadow's house (more like mansion), on the marble steps. Amy was still trying to figure out how the heck Shadow and Maria had afforded such a big house after their parents passed away. Maybe they used the prize money Shadow got in all his science fairs and competitions? But that would only be enough money to pay the mortgage. The only option left was that their parents were actually rich, and had left them an entire mansion when they died. Yeah, that must be it.

With that mystery out of the way, Amy sighed and blew a bang out of her eye, still tapping her red boot. It was freezing cold outside, since the weather gods had decided that they suddenly wanted to make Amy suffer. It had been 30 minutes since she had been on Shadow's motorcycle, bright-eyed and cheery on the beautiful day. And now it was a dreary and dull. Wonderful choice, rain clouds.

Hold it-rain clouds?! Amy groaned as the dark clouds gathered together. Of course, she could go back inside, but what if Rouge pulled up? Then it would appear rude. Sighing, Amy wished that Shadow had put one of those little roof things above the steps and in front of the door. Oh, why couldn't Rouge just magically pull up?!

As if answering her pleas, a bright purple convertible suddenly launched itself into the drive way of the mansion. The roof was down, despite the omens that the heavens were going to cry. A white bit with turquoise eyes was sitting in the front, with a black body suit on. She also had knee high white boots on. Next to her was a lavender cat, with a red gem on her forehead, and her hair pulled up in an upward ponytail. She was wearing a long white tank top, with a purple jacket, blue jeans, and dark magenta sneakers. In the back seat was a small rabbit, with an orange dress on with yellow sneakers.

Blaze looked as though she wanted nothing more than to be let out of the car, and Cream was smiling happily. Rouge grinned at Amy as she slammed her foot on the brakes. Amy rubbed her eyes in shock. Her friends had changed so much in 6 years. Well, it appeared their personalities were the same, taken their body language.

Amy slowly walked down the steps, by the fountain, nearing where Rouge had parked. The convertible was on the opposite side of the fountain. But before Amy could reach it, Rouge flew out-literally-of the convertible, and slammed Amy into a hug. Unfortunately, this hug sent them both into the fountain.

"ROUGE!" Amy shouted. Rouge grinned, reaching over and dunking Amy's head in the water.

"Hellooo, pinkie!" She said cheerfully. Cream giggled, and Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Here, let me help," Blaze said, reaching over and grasping Amy's arm. With Cream's help, she pulled out the sopping wet hedgehog.

"I thought you didn't like water," Amy said, as Blaze summoned a small ball of fire in her hand.

"I don't like it if somebody forces me into it," Blaze replied, rolling her eyes. While the fire dried Amy, Rouge climbed out of the fountain with ease, and joined in.

"Well, I'm sure happy to see you!" Cream shouted excitedly. Amy grinned as the other two girls responded with nods of agreement.

"Well," Amy said with a giggle, "This was an interesting reunion."

The girls laughed in agreement. After Rouge and Amy dried, Blaze headed towards the convertible.

"I'M driving this time," Blaze said firmly. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"I call shot gun!" Amy shouted, sprinting to the door.

"Hey!"

**X**

Rouge led the way through the mall, the others lagging behind in catching up talk. Occasionally, there was a loud laugh or a giggle, but it was mostly talking.

"Do you remember Mister Sonic?" Cream asked. Amy nodded her head.

"Yeah, he was my best friend!"

"He's got a girlfriend!" Rouge called from up ahead. Amy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who?!"

"Sally Acorn," Blaze said. Amy looked at her in astonishment.

"Yep," Rouge said, "And we're here!"

Amy looked up at the last comment, and was confused.

"What?"

"This, Teenage Dream!" Cream said, walking inside the classy shop without a second thought. Amy quickly followed behind Blaze, and was greeted by a very loud version of "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood. Amy covered her ears in surprise. Gently uncovering them, she looked around to see Rouge talking to a brown female wolf wearing an employee's uniform. A white T-Shirt, with pink cursive letter saying Teenage Dream on the back. The wolf was also wearing a pink skirt, and black boots.

"That's Amy," Rouge said, suddenly grabbing the pink hedgehog in question and shoving her forward.

"Hey! Rouge has told me sooo much about you!" The brown wolf said, smiling at Amy and holding out her hand. Amy shook it and smiled back nervously.

"My name's Alicia, by the way."

Amy nodded her head, "It's nice to meet you."

"So, fashion emergency?" Alicia asked politely. Amy nodded.

"Which University?"

"Chaos."

"Same one!" Alicia said excitedly, "Let's get to work. Let's see, you'll need the lot…oh, and in case you're wondering, the store's owner is CRAZY about Katy Perry. It took FOREVER for me to get her to play some country pop!"

Amy grinned, unsure of what to say. Alicia grabbed her by the wrists and dragged her off.

This was gonna take a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Replies:**

_**The Bad Wolf Man: I'm glad that you don't feel awkward between our huge age gap. :) I thought you didn't need your mom's permission to own an account now that you're 26.  
**_

_**aliciathewolf45: Yeah, I usually listen to pop. But for my first vocal recital, I sang "There's A Place For Us" by Carrie Underwood. She's the only country singer I'll ever listen to. :P Technically, she does some 'country pop' too. **_

_**AgentDolly: Blame iTunes. And YouTube. For choosing to put "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry on while I was typing up the chapter.**_

**READ TO UNDERSTAND CHAPTER!  
**

**I know literally nothing about college. So, the style of the group's classes will be that of high school. Sorry!**

Anyway, this chapter will finally be longer **than** the others. It's just that I haven't had enough time to type them. I usually type off the top of my head, and don't use a piece of paper. Okay, okay, I was also kind of busy trying to draw *sighs dreamily* Silver...*cough* Uh...yeah...one last thing...you probably realized, but music greatly helps me write. Anyways, on the the chapter.

* * *

Amy groaned as she tried to lift up one of the two bags she was supposed to carry out of the trunk of Rouge's car. Blaze was carrying another one, and Cream was carrying the shoe boxes, which held a pair of Converse and Gladiator Sandals. Rouge was leaning on the side of the car, looking at Amy's failing attempts. After a sigh, she reached over and helped the pink hedgehog.

"Oh come on, 11 shirts, 10 skirts, 8 shorts, 3 dresses, and 15 hair accessories can't weight that much! These 9 shirts, 10 skirts, 2 shorts, 7 dresses, and 5 hair accessories don't weight that much!" Rouge exclaimed as she walked after Blaze and Cream. Amy sent her friend a bewildered look before heaving up the first 47 items that Rouge had counted off.

"How did you remember all that?" Amy asked, catching up to the fashionista.

"Comes with practice, pinkie," Rouge chuckled. Amy rolled her eyes.

"You guys still didn't have to pay for all of this...there's like 100 items in all of these put together!"

"Hm...you're right, that probably isn't enough to fill up you closet," Rouge said, clicking her tongue. Amy's eyes widened and Rouge laughed.

"Just joking! And no problem, what else was I going to do with..." Rouge reached into her pocket and pulled out a wallet, "these?" She let go of the top, and a trail of credit cards fell to the floor. Amy sighed and shook her head.

"But I just feel bad that I can't pay you back!" The hedgehog exclaimed.

"Pay me back with one of your amazing pictures, dahling," Rouge replied. Amy shrugged.

"Or you could take a pretty picture, you're good at that, too," Cream called.

"I'm a better painter than photographer," Amy replied seriously. Blaze rolled her eyes, unknown to Amy.

"Yeah...we believe you..." The female cat said, walking into the mansion's open doors.

"What I don't get is why Shadow left the doors open," Amy said out loud. Rouge shrugged as she waited for Cream to clamber up to stairs.

After heading inside, the pink hedgehog lead the way to the guest room, where she was staying. Blaze and Rouge followed closely, while the small rabbit struggled to climb up the large steps. They all waited for Cream at the top, where Amy took the shoe boxes from her so that she could walk.

"Well, this is it!" Amy exclaimed. _"I wish I had cleaned up the place before I left."_

The other girls took no notice of the huge mess, though, as the set the bags down by Amy's bed. The next hour consisted of unpacking, organizing, and gossiping.

"You said Sonic got a girlfriend?" Amy asked, tossing a shirt to Blaze.

"Yeah, Sally Acorn…SHADOW STOP PLAYING THAT MUSIC!" Rouge yelled the last part poking her head out the door. There was a pause in the sad song that was playing, a grunt, and then the song resumed.

Cream and Amy giggled as Rouge angrily marched out of the room. There was a loud crash that followed, a yell, and heels clicking on the marble steps.

"What did you do?" Blaze asked, folding up the shirt.

"Chucked his MP3 player out the window," Rouge replied…before being interrupted by a very loud version of "Fix You" by ColdPlay. Rouge groaned and collapsed on the bed. The others laughed, including Blaze.

"Let's fight back!" Amy suggested.

"You know, I really wish the writer wasn't so into music," Rouge commented, getting up.

"And I wish you weren't such a Drama Queen," Blaze muttered.

"I heard that!"

Cream giggled again, as Amy pulled out her cell phone and went to iTunes.

"How 'bout Roar?" Amy asked, pausing before clicking on the song. Blaze shrugged, Rouge resumed unpacking, and Cream nodded.

"Great!"

With the 4 minute song accompanying them, the girls made a game out of unpacking. Almost like basketball, mixed with "swimming" through the piles of clothes. They were almost finished by the time the song ended.

"Bye, Amy! We'll see you tomorrow at college!" Rouge called.

"Yeah, see ya!"

* * *

Amy nervously stepped into the grounds of the huge college. Shadow was ahead of her already, with his group of friends. She recognized a red echidna, a yellow-orange two-tailed fox, a silver hedgehog, and...a blue hedgehog, of course. Knuckles, Miles-no hold on, Tails, Silver, and Sonic if Amy remembered correctly. They were all chattering excitedly about their summer. Amy had always thought that only girls talked about that stuff, but apparently boys did, too. Learn something new every day.

She was silently heading towards the inside of the college, until she heard a familiar laugh. Turning around, she saw Blaze, Cream, Rouge, and a brown squirrel/chipmunk. They were all giggling and talking, heading towards Chaos University. Cream was the first one to spot Amy, and quickly tapped the chipmunk's shoulder. The chipmunk turned around and looked at Amy, then smiled. Soon, all four met the pink hedgehog.

"Hey, pinkie!" Rouge said sassily.

"Hello Ms. Amy!" Cream said excitedly.

"Why are you guys acting like you just saw her? You saw her like, 12 hours ago," Blaze said, only nodded as a greeting for Amy. Amy laughed at her friend's bluntness, while the chipmunk rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm Sally. The girls have told me a lot about you, you're Amy, right?" Sally asked, holding out her hand.

"Yeah," Amy said, taking her hand. Rouge inwardly smiled, happy they were getting along so well.

"Well, let's get going," Cream said, grabbing Amy's hand and tugging her inside.

"This place looks like Hogwarts," Sally said, following after them.

"Potterhead," Rouge commented to Amy. Amy laughed.

"If you're a PotterHead, what's the motto of Hogwarts?" Rouge asked, placing a hand on her hip as the walked inside.

"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus, Latin for 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon'," Sally replied.

Rouge pouted as the others laughed, and Sally grinned in victory.

"I'm glad we got everything yesterday," Cream said, as the walked through the hallway.

"Same, what's your first class?" Sally asked the others.

"Uh...Physics..." Amy said, the first one to reach her schedule.

"Same!" The others said simultaneously.

"Jinx!"

"Jinx again!"

"Owe me a coke!"

"Damn it!" Well, Cream actually said, "Dang it," but she still said "it" at the same time.

"Jinx!"

"Jinx again!"

Amy sighed as the others yelled, "Cream!", for she was the one who said, "Owe me a coke!" last. Cream stuck out her bottom lip in frustration.

"Cream, Cream, Cream," Amy said, relieving the rabbit from the silence. Cream smiled.

"Thanks, Ms. Amy!"

"Come on Cream, we're the same age!" Amy protested.

Cream shrugged, "Fine, _Amy_."

"Hey...is that Knuckie up therrrrrrrrreeeeeeee?" Rouge asked, standing on the toes of her high heels.

"Yep," Sally replied with a cheeky grin. Even Amy was holding in the laughter, knowing what was going to happen.

"KNNNNUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" Rouge shouted, pummeling the poor echidna down with a hug.

"AGH! GUYS GETHEROFFOFME!" Knuckles shouted. The boys laughed as Rouge let go of the hot head.

"Hey, Sonic!" Sally said flirtatiously as the girls caught up. Sonic grinned at his girlfriend. Lucky for the others, Sonic wasn't the mushy type of guy, and he only said, "Hey," in response.

"Oh my god..." Silver said, the first one to realize who the pink hedgehog was.

"AMY!" Knuckles said, overreacting. He slammed her into a hug, and gave her a noogie.

"I didn't even recognize you!" Tails exclaimed.

"Same, you look so...different...in the good way!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Wow...Frozen reference, much?" Blaze asked, crossing her arms.

"That was unintended," Sonic replied, sticking out his tongue.

Until now, I have not broadened on Amy's change of appearance. Only one thing had changed, but apparently that was enough to fool the boys. Who knew that long quills were so deceiving? Well...it wasn't like Amy had grown them out, it was more like she honestly forgot to cut them.

The guys took turns giving Amy friendly hugs, and soon the reunited group started walking together. And who would've thunk it, they all had Physics.

Oddly enough, Sonic was lagging behind the group. It appeared as though he was waiting for Amy, who was cramming her schedule-it was still out-back into her messenger bag. After that was finished she looked up, and was surprised to see Sonic waiting for her.

"Oh, hey!" she said.

"Hey," Sonic replied. They both walked rather slowly, which was very odd for the Fastest Thing Alive.

"You know," Sonic said suddenly, causing Amy to jerk her head to look up at him, "We really missed you."

"Yeah...I really missed you guys, too," Amy replied.

Neither of them noticed the ruby eyes glaring at them from up ahead.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Christian Wolf99: Ok, just asking. Ha ha! If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to change my penname… **_

_**Nate the Werehog: Thanks!**_

**Special thanks to aliciathewolf45 who helped me greatly on the chapter. Spencer Daniel Ricardo belongs to Christian Wolf99. **

"You are not in this class to chit chat or play games. You are not in this class to have parties when I'm out, or play footsies. You are here to learn," In front of the bleak lecturing room was a multi colored gorilla. He was a bizarre mix of colors, and had gold jewelry on. Not exactly the attire a professor would wear, but Spencer Daniel Ricardo was a tad different.

"But," Mr. Ricardo continued, "I do want to break that invisible wall between students and teachers. The more I know about you, and the more you know about me, the happier the environment in the class will be."

Almost all the students were half-asleep, hardly paying attention. Perhaps it was the monotone voice that Spencer had. They were well into the day, almost near noon. All of the student's classes had consisted of rules being told, explaining what would be told through the school year and them some free time. Free time as in the girls started talking like crazy and the boys started throwing stuff at/to each other. Well, most of them anyway.

The only members of the Sonic gang in Mr. Ricardo's class were Shadow, Amy, and Cream. They were also the only ones listening…partially anyway. Cream was flicking a pencil, Shadow had sneaked his phone in, and Amy was drawing.

"So," Mr. Ricardo said, finally gaining some excitement in his voice, "I've set up a survey online for you! Now don't lie and tell me you didn't bring your cell phones in, bring them out. I'll write the website on the board."

The class mumbled among themselves as they pulled out their cellphones. Even Cream had it inside her messenger bag, but that was because it was on mute. As long as nobody called, everything was cool.

"_ .com," _Shadow read aloud. Amy gave him an odd look.

"What monkey?"

"That's the website," Cream replied, keying it into Safari. Amy gave the board a weird look, but typed it in nonetheless.

"These questions are wacky!" A familiar voice said behind them. Amy turned around and rolled her eyes at Alicia.

"What do you mean?" a male armadillo next to her asked, eyes glued on his cellphone.

"He's asking whether or not we like tomatoes on pizza! Why the heck would that matter?!" A purple chameleon next to the armadillo said.

"Yum! Maybe we're gonna get pizza!" A bee next to the chameleon said.

"Yeah, right," A pink echidna next to the bee said, "And Vector will finally learn how to tie his shoes."

"Hey!" A green crocodile said, looking back at them from the row in front of Amy, Shadow, and Cream, "At least I don't call people suitcase face!"

"Quiet in the back three rows!" Mr. Ricardo said, "Complete the survey!"

"Who're they?" Amy whispered to Cream.

"You mean Alicia's friends?"

"Yeah."

"The armadillo is Mighty (he's pretty calm), the chameleon is Espio (be careful where you're walking, he can go invisible), the bee is Charmy (never get any candy near him), the echidna is Julie-Su (Do not mention Rouge around her, she's been competing for Knuckles), and the crocodile is Vector (he's really into music)," Cream said, in one breath. But she wasn't finished yet, "They call themselves the Chaotix. Knuckles used to be a part of them, before he met Sonic. They're all friends, though."

Amy nodded, "Cool. Alicia's right…these questions are wacky…who cares if I color-code my schedule or not?"

**X**

"How was Ricardo?" Knuckles asked at lunch.

"Boring and wacky at the same time," Amy said.

"Free time," Shadow responded.

"We saw the Chaotix," Cream responded.

"Oh…" Knuckles said, casting a nervous glance towards the white bat walking towards the table.

"Hey girls! Hey Knuckie! Has Mr. Sunshine said anything yet?" Rouge asked, sitting next to Knuckles and in front of Amy.

"Two words, it's a new record," Cream said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey guys!" Sonic said, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Of course, knowing him, he had probably run.

"Sonic! I told you to wait!" Tails complained, coming to the table shortly after Sonic. He took a seat next to Cream, who was sitting next to Amy, who was sitting next to Sonic.

"Sorry, bud," Sonic said.

"What'd I miss?" Blaze asked, walking over with Silver and Sally.

"Nothing much," Amy replied, "Just everyone getting here."

"La la la I'm so bored…" Knuckles said randomly. Everybody stared at him and he sweat dropped, "What?"

"Oh nothing," Shadow said sarcastically, "Surely not the fact you contradicted your personality."

Knuckles rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a certain pink echidna walking over.

"Hey guys," Julie-Su said, sending a glare towards Rouge.

"Uh…hi 'Su," Knuckles replied nervously.

"Don't worry; I'm not here for that _bat_." Julie-Su hissed through her teeth. Rouge glared at her back.

"Ladies, ladies," Sonic said, attempting to calm them down. It kind of worked.

Julie-Su sighed, "Well, my aunt basically monitors all the clubs in the school. Kind of like sororities. We're kinda losing members. Well, nobody's signed up yet. It's my job to spread the word. There are sign-ups after school. It's odd how much college is like high school. Anyway, I'll see you later."

With that, the echidna walked away, with Rouge glaring at the back of her head.

Sonic whistled, "Two girls, Knux!"

Knuckles glared at him, "And what about you?"

"I've got one right here," Sonic said, nodding towards Sally, "And no more."

"Gr…"

**X**

Amy grinned happily as she half-skipped to her Art class. The morning was regular classes, Math, Physics, Secondary Languages, etc. but afternoons were taken up solely by classes for the careers students wanted to pursue. Amy knew that artists didn't rake in that much money, but she could always get a better-paying job that had to do with art.

Amy stopped skipping as she reached the door, and flattened out her slightly wrinkled shorts. Stepping through the door, she did her best to hold in a groan.

"Hey, babe," Scourge said flirtatiously.

"Go away…" Amy muttered, heading towards the back of the class room. The room was already filled, Amy was the last person. All of them were people she didn't recognize, but they were all staring at the pair. Who DOESN'T want to stare at the player's new toy?

"No can do," Scourge said, zooming in front of Amy and stopping her.

"Good morning class," The teacher took this perfect time to walk in. Scourge cursed and zoomed into a two-people desk, next to a red female fox. Amy scrambled into an empty seat, right before the teacher turned around.

"Don't worry, I won't say these are your permanent seats," the teacher chuckled. The class gave each other relieved glances. Amy didn't do anything; she felt so out of place.

"Roll call, alright?"

Whilst the teacher read out the names, Amy studied her. She was a rabbit, just like Cream. In fact, they had a lot of resemblance. In fact…she looked like Cream's mom! What was her name…Vanilla, right? Yeah!

"Scourge the Hedgehog."

The green hedgehog lazily raised a hand. Cream's mom glared at him, but turned back to the roll call.

"It appears Scourge is in school today, but has decided to skip class," She said. The class chuckled as Scourge shouted.

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh, lady! Here!"

"Thank you. Fiona Fox."

The fox next to Scourge smiled, "Here," The smile soon turned to a smirk as Cream's mom turned away.

"Amy Rose."

"Present," Amy mumbled. At first, she didn't think Vanilla heard her, for she made no noise.

"Ah, Cream's old friend, right?" Vanilla asked, looking at Amy and smiling. For some odd reason, Amy blushed and nodded her head.

"Yeah."

"it's nice to see you."

"Same…" Amy said awkwardly. The class was now bored, and doing other things. Whispering, doodling, staring out the window, anything.

"Let's continue," Vanilla said abruptly, "To the rules…"

**X**

"Hey babe! Hold on a second!"

Amy rushed out the class, hoping to lose Scourge. Unfortunately, it was as though he had magically transformed into Sonic.

"Hey, hey! Nobody runs away from a king," Scourge said, cornering Amy into a wall, wagging his finger.

"King of what? Perverts?" Amy asked through gritted teeth.

Scourge threw his head back and laughed, "No, way babe. Looking at the biggest player in the school."

"You're _proud _of that?" Amy hissed. Scourge laughed at her again, and leaned closer.

"Why not? Those teachers always say be proud of who you are."

Amy couldn't avert his gaze; he was way too close to her. Uncomfortably close.

"Leave her alone," A deep voice suddenly growled behind them. Scourge leaned back and sighed, stepping away from Amy.

"Why should I, Stripes?" Scourge asked.

"I don't think you want to mess with the Ultimate Life Form," Shadow muttered, raising a fist.

"Uh huh…I _surely_ can't beat you! Whatever shall I do?" Scourge said in mock worry. Shadow growled and nearly gave 'im a good one. However, Amy grabbed his arm and lowered it.

"No, Shadow. Violence isn't the answer. Let's just go to that sign up thing Julie-Su told us about," she said urgently leading the hedgehog away from the player.

"Fine…what're you signing up for?" Shadow said, his mood slightly altering, seeing that Amy was fine.

"Art, of course! What about you?" Amy said cheerfully letting go of Shadow's arm.

"I dunno…never had any special talents."

"Maybe you could try out for track or something!"

"…Sonic's doing that."

"…Uh…then…"

"I'll try anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Amy shouted, causing half the hallway to turn and stare. Amy blushed and hid her face behind her arm.

"Oops…"

"Yeah, oops," Shadow responded.

**That took 3 days! So sorry! School started after our 4, well 5 since I was sick, break!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**This is basically what happened when I saw I got 5 reviews on one chapter:**

**Me: La la la…I'm going to go check if somebody reviewed! *walks over to bed and opens laptop***

**Me: I think I'll put on some music after the dumb Manage Stories loa-HOLY COW WHAT THE HECK? *faints***

**Your reviews made me want to type a new chapter as fast as I could! More reviews, the more faster chapters get up! The better quality! Etcetera! **

**Replies:**

_**Project Shadow: Thank you so much! I had fun writing the chapter…except when poor Amy got cornered…**_

_**aliciathewolf45: I know, right?**_

_**Christian Wolf99: Not a drag when your day consisted completely of fanfiction, eating, sleeping, and gaming. :D**_

_**AgentDolly: Ok? OK?! Jk.**_

_**Twin-books: Thanks!**_

**Also, no updates over the weekend. Saturday I have a choir competition, and Sunday I have a dance performance. Both of them take up the whole day, considering all the dang make-up we have to put on for dance and how long it takes to get to the competition site for choir. I also have to solo try-outs in choir to worry about, so I hope you understand. :) Chapter's a tad shorter. Rather a filler, but I'm finishing it in Study Hall. Sets up the next chapter.**

**X**

Amy mentally groaned as she stepped out of the college with Shadow after the sign-up.

"S***," Shadow said. Amy glanced at him, wishing she could say the same thing. It was raining. In September. WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THIS WORLD?!

"Great, now I can't walk home," Amy complained. Shadow rolled his eyes and stepped out.

"It's fine, it's just a drizzle," Shadow noted. Amy sighed and put her bag over her head, following after Shadow. To her surprise, Shadow cracked a small smile, since he couldn't laugh at her.

"What?"

"You…" Shadow said, turning around and walking towards his motorcycle. Amy sighed and followed him, assuming that was the only form of transportation in which she could get home.

"Hey Ames!"

Amy turned around to face Sonic, who was waving at her wildly from the door of the college.

"Come over here for a second! And bring Grumpy Pants, too!"

Amy held in a giggle at Shadow's expression, and walked towards Sonic.

"What is it?"

"I dunno, the gals wanted you for something," Sonic said with a shrug, zooming off into the college without a second thought.

"I forgot, Blaze and Sally are staying here 'cause their homes are too far away," Amy thought aloud.

"What?" Shadow asked, walking over and pretending he didn't hear anything.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Let's go," Amy said, slightly startled. Shadow shrugged in response and followed after her. They didn't have to go far, as the whole group was congregated 3 yards from the door.

"Hey guys!" Amy said cheerfully walking over.

"Come over here!" Sally said, grabbing Amy by the shoulders and ushering her and the other girls to a secluded part of the hallway. Well, as secluded as a hallway could get with a bunch of boys listening into every word you were saying.

"I feel like I'm being towed around everywhere," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh well," Rouge said, redoing her lipstick using a compact mirror.

"Show some sensitivity!" Blaze said.

"Somebody's on bloody hell," Sally muttered.

"What did you just say?!" Blaze shouted.

"What did you say?" Amy asked at the same time.

"It's our code word for you-know-what when the boys are around," Cream explained quietly.

"Oh…" Amy said, a light bulb appearing above her head when she realized what Cream meant.

"Anyway, we got Sonic to drag you in to ask you something," Rouge said, snapping her mirror closed.

"My birthday's tomorrow," Cream interrupted excitedly; something she did not do often. "Would you like to come over to my house? It's the whole gang. Oh, and I think the Chaotix might be coming over."

"How many people is that, anyway?" Sally asked.

"Well….Blaze, Rouge, Sally, Amy, Knuckles, Tails, Silver, Sonic, Shadow, Mighty, Espio, Charmy, Vector, Julie-Su, and Alicia said she unfortunately had to work a shift. Oh and duh, Cream is there," Blaze replied.

"So 15 people including Cream," Amy said, who had tried counting on her fingers, and borrowing Rouge's when she needed more.

"Yep!" Cream said cheerfully, "Mother doesn't mind!"

"Speaking of mother…" Sally said, looking behind Amy.

"There you are!" A sweet voice said behind Amy. Amy turned around and shuffled next to Sally, preferring not to look Vanilla in the eye. Teachers always made her nervous, whether or not they were her best friend's mom.

"We have to get going, Cream," Vanilla said, motioning for her daughter to follow. "I'll see you tomorrow girls."

"Bye Ms. Vanilla," The girls said in unison.

"Awkward moment averted," Rouge said, as the two rabbits walked away.

"Yep," Sally said.

The next moment consisted of awkward silence, shuffling feet, and whistling.

"Uh…maybe we should go catch up with the boys?" Blaze suggested, pointing to the 5 Mobians who were heading out into the drizzle.

"Yeah," Sally said, heading after them.

It was no surprise to the others that Sally caught up with Sonic. The brown chipmunk tapped his shoulder and asked him something after he turned around, away from the others. Her smile faltered as he answered the question, and slowed her pace to meet with the other girls.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I was hoping he could drop me home, but he said he's meeting a friend right after," Sally explained.

"You can't expect him to throw away his social life just for you," Rouge pointed out bluntly.

"It's just that we haven't spent as much time together for a long while now," Sally said in a dejected manner.

"Things will get better, don't worry," Blaze said comfortingly.

"What happened to Ms. I'm-Gonna-Slap-Sally?" Rouge jokingly asked. Blaze and Sally rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"I have to go this way to Shadow's, he must've left without me," Amy said, turning the opposite direction at the intersection of Mandlin Lane.

"Okay, see ya pinkie!" Rouge said, waving good-bye.

Amy sighed and held her bag over her head again, trying to prevent her quills from getting soaked.

"Do you want a ride home?"

Amy looked around, startled. A few feet away, leaning against a tree was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Wasn't he supposed to be meeting somebody?

"I wish…" Amy said, rolling her eyes. Next thing she knew, she was picked up bridal style by Sonic.

"Hey!" She protested.

"You did say 'I wish'," Sonic said, starting to short run (for him anyway).

"Yeah…I wish about a lot of stuff, though…" Amy muttered, inaudible for Sonic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Christian Wolf99: In case you're wondering, my choir got first in the middle school division! Our school won 7 trophies, and 6 of them were first place! The other one was 2****nd**** place. :D**

**Project Shadow: Thanks! You'll just have to wait and see…will Amy be a true friend and tell Sally or will she keep it to herself?**

**aliciathewolf45: Here you go! It's Monday! :P**

**Twin-books: I know, I feel kind of bad putting Sonic in so much trouble.**

**SnowDreamy: Why did the ending upset you? **

There was a sudden gust of wind through Amy's hair as Sonic abruptly stopped in front of the mansion. Lucky for them, Shadow's motorcycle was not parked in the driveway, indicating that the hedgehog was still riding home. Sonic set Amy down in front of the stairs.

"Thanks," Amy said.

"No problem!" Sonic said, about to run off.

"Hey! I'm not finished!" Amy said, her mood suddenly changing to anger as she placed her hands on her hips. Sonic stopped and looked at her. "When you told Sally you had to meet a friend after school, did you mean me?!"

"Kind of, why?"

"Because you rejected taking her home! Instead, you took me! That's not right! Imagine what she'll think if she hears about this!" Amy cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

"…I'm sure she won't mind. Besides, who said we need to tell her?" Sonic asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Amy stared at him in disbelief. This was not the Sonic she knew. The Sonic she knew wasn't insensitive to others feelings. The Sonic she knew actually knew a thing or two about relationships, and practically knew Sally inside out.

"I say," Amy said after a moment's pause.

"She'll be angry at you too."

Another moment's pause.

"It's the right thing to do."

"It might ruin your friendship."

"It WILL ruin your relationship."

"Says who?"

"Me!"

"Alas, the word of one pink hedgehog won't matter," Sonic said, chuckling.

"Seriously? This is the hedgehog you've turned into? Since when were you this insensitive?!" Amy yelled, poking a finger at his chest. Sonic looked at her for a second, his expression unreadable.

"And what have you turned into? Since when did you know anything about relationships? If I remember, you used to chase me around."

"Yeah, when I was like, 12! I got over it in 7th grade!" Amy shouted, boiling to the brim with anger. However, the next question caught her off guard.

"Why?"

"_Excuse _me?" Amy spat out, regaining herself.

"Why did you stop?"

A silence enveloped the two uncomfortably. Sonic waiting for Amy's answer whilst tapping his foot, and Amy biting her lip, trying to hold back tears.

"B-b-b-because…"

"Say it!"

"YOU SAID YOU HATED ME!"

Before Sonic could even reply, Amy was off and running into Shadow's house, allowing the tears to pour down her muzzle. It was true, Sonic had said that. But it had not been intended. It was in rising rage of the moment, one of the regular arguments to why Amy was chasing Sonic. But this time, Amy had gotten herself hurt. Instead of worrying and asking if she was okay, Sonic did something very different…

_**Flashback…**_

_**Amy grabbed her arm, crying like crazy. Sonic looked at her from above.**_

"_**See? If you hadn't been chasing me, you wouldn't've gotten hurt! Instead, you tripped and hurt yourself."**_

"_**B-but…"**_

"_**No buts! I don't want you chasing me anymore!" Sonic said, clenching his fists in anger, "Not if your gonna get hurt!"**_

_**Amy looked at the famous red shoes with the white straps and golden buckles. The only thing she could look at without turning her head upwards.**_

"_**What? Do you need motivation to stop? Then here's your motivation! I HATE YOU AMY ROSE!"**_

_**Back to present..**_

The day after that incident had been awkward. The first thing Sonic did when he saw Amy was come running and hug her, apologizing over and over to his _best friend._ Amy, being the girl she is, accepted the apology. But after that day, she never chased Sonic. After she was forced to move because of her father's job shift, the infatuation slowly started melting away. There was nothing to do about it. But a tiny piece of her said that she was still in love with him…

That piece took up 5 percent of her heart.

**X**

_September 4__th__, midnight. AKA, 7 hours after the yelling match. Amy's room. _

The window in Amy's room was thrown wide open, to let in some cool breeze. Even though this was a mansion, it still had its flaws. Which including Shadow forgetting to pay the bills for AC. Well, that wasn't really the mansion's fault. It was the mansion's fault that it only had a fan in Shadow's room. Alas, poor Amy had to open her window so that the room could cool down a tad. The problem? Have you already forgotten about the unpredictable rain patterns?

Amy shifted around in her sleep, no doubt having some sort of a nightmare.

"No…it's Galaeic…no…wait…its Irish…"

Yes, there was some odd things being said, but they somehow all tied to a shipwreck, debating about names of languages and all.

"IRISH GALAEIC!" Amy suddenly shouted, shooting up into a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked around.

"Oops…" She said meekly.

"God, you made my ears break!"

Amy screamed and whipped around to stare at the windowsill. Sitting on it was none other than the Blue Blur. Sonic was wearing a trench coat and jeans, causing Amy to realize it was raining. The rain had fit into the mood of her dream, so she hadn't realized her room was getting flooded.

"What the f*** are you doing here?" Amy whispered.

"I came to apologize," Sonic said, "I don't know what came over me. I don't want anything to come between our friendship. I made a huge mistake 6 years ago, and I never want to do that again. I…just feel this weird part of me come out and random times. I don't know. I always feel like punching or kicking something nowadays…but I don't want that to come between my friends."

"But what about this afternoon?" Amy asked, clutching her blanket.

"I actually was going to meet a friend. Remember I said 'Kind of'? I was heading towards there when I saw you struggling through the rain, so I decided to help. I went to meet my friend really quick after our argument. Then I went home and tried to decide how to apologize to you without making it cheesy…which didn't turn out so well. Anyways, here I am!" Sonic threw his arms open at the last part, making Amy grin.

"I forgive you, Sonikku."

"Ames!" Sonic said, blushing slightly at the mention of her nickname for him.

"Now shoo before Shadow wakes up," Amy said, rolling her eyes. Sonic chuckled.

"See ya, Ames."

With that, Sonic leaped out of the window. Amy remembered a tree nearby, and guessed Sonic was climbing down from that.

That 5 percent leaping.

**X**

**I'm so sorry. I thought this chapter was going to be longer. To the fact, it was going to include the next day. But then I decided this needed a chapter of its own, thus the small chapter. Well, it's still 1,000 words; so that's good. Drop me a review, I love reading them! I always reply, so you guys know what I think of your review. Remember, constructive criticism is appreciated! :)**

**MeadowHasCome**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Reviews:**

**SonicLover101: Love triangle. **

**Twin-books: OMG! Your review made me laugh like CRAZY! Unluckily, I was in the library. :P**

**aliciathewolf45: …Cutie…? JK.**

**ChristianWolf99: Thanks! :)**

**Project Shadow: Already replied through PM.**

**AgentDolly: We discussed this in real life. :P**

**PoeticLover1996: Discussed :P**

**SnowDreamy: Oh, okay. :)**

**SugarhogRose: Thanks! By the way, I LOVE your story Caffeinated. To be honest, the First Chapter wasn't my type. But I decided to read some more, and fell in love with the story. **

**Hello hello! :) I've seen that I've got a lot of questions about whether this is SonAmy or ShadAmy. Well, if you put those two couples together, what do you get? A love triangle. **

**I think drugs and drinking are just plain wrong. I think they're dumb and stupid. I don't see why college and high school students do it, and I never will. Never in my whole life. That is why there is none of that in this story. **

The next day was rather uneventful. The classes reviewed material from 12th grade, and some started talking about the topic. It was boring Amy to death, listening to Mr. Ricardo talk about the Pythagorean theorem. She had learned this back in middle school, and had reviewed it in every single grade. Why couldn't the bell ring?

Yet again, the story magic most come into to action. The bell sounded, and a volcano erupted. There was shouting and yelling to friends as the students shoved notebooks back in back packs and headed out the doors. Cream and Shadow stayed back for Amy. Unbeknownst to Amy, Shadow had told Cream about the Scourge incident, and they agreed to walk with her to and from the class, just in case.

"Sorry guys," Amy said with a huff, finally pulling on her messenger bag.

"It's alright," Cream chirped happily walking out. Amy was forced in between Cream and Shadow, which she really didn't mind. The two's personalities differed so much it was no wonder that they rarely had interaction.

"What?" Shadow asked, looking up from his book. Amy and Cream rolled their eyes in unison.

"No seriously, what?" Shadow asked.

"Nothing, Mr. Sunshine, nothing," Amy teased.

"Shut up," Shadow said, returning to the book. Amy stuck out her tongue at him, which he ignored. Cream giggled.

"Well, I have to go to now," Cream said as they reached the end of the hallway. It split off into two parts now, and Cream headed down the left one.

Like many other times, a silence settled between Shadow and Amy. It was expected. Amy was naturally talkative, but for some reason, she became tongue-tied around Shadow. She couldn't find the right thing to talk about. Anything she thought would seem like a good conversation, would usually end up awkwardly. In her point of view, it's better to keep quiet than have an awkward conversation.

"So," Shadow said, startling Amy, "You've never told me what you're studying."

"Oh! Oh! I'm studying art."

"Then you have Vanilla."

"Yes."

"Mm…"

"What 'bout you?"

"Writing."

That response caught Amy off guard. Writing? Since when was her friend interested in writing? Well, sure, he was a bookworm, but she had never seen him write before.

"What do you write?"

"Fiction."

"Stories or poems?"

"Both."

"Could I see one?" Amy requested.

"I don't see why not…" Shadow trailed off, obviously thinking off the hundreds of reasons why he didn't want to show Amy.

"It's okay, you don't have to show me," Amy said hurriedly.

"No, here," Shadow said, handing her a sheet of notebook paper. Amy took it and started reading.

_Cars whip past me as children clamber out_

_They run to the big doors_

_Chatter is all I hear_

_I hear about ice cream, swimming, and the Caribbean_

_Different colored faces and hair blur into one as I push past_

_The hall is empty, not a sole_

_Spiders scuttle back up to the ceiling_

_Teachers stand in the doorways, all smiles_

_But I ignore them_

_For I know they are fake_

"That was the first poem I ever made," Shadow admitted.

"It's still cool, is it like the first day of school?" Amy asked.

"Yes," Shadow responded, taking back the sheet of paper and shoving it in a folder.

"Well, here's the door! I have to go!" Amy said weirdly, waving good-bye to Shadow. She blushed in embarrassment at the gesture, much to her own surprise.

"Hey, babe!" A familiar voice drawled.

Amy put her head up high and walked right past Scourge, to the back of the classroom. She could practically _hear _him smirk at her silent treatment.

"Don't worry about her," A female voice said. As Amy sat down, she saw the voice emitting from the dark red fox she had seen yesterday. Fiona.

"Yeah, she'll come running. They all do," Scourge agreed, sitting down next to Fiona. She smiled flirtatiously at him, and Amy mimicked vomiting. Fiona saw, and sent her the evil eye.

"Ignore them," a white and blue hedgehog (or echidna) said, leaning over to talk to Amy

"They're always like that, and believe me, I've been stuck with them in every art class since 9th grade," A lilac hedgehog next to her said, rolling her eyes.

"I feel bad for you, girl," Amy said sympathetically. All three of them laughed. "So, my name's Amy."

"I'm Azure," The hedgehog-echidna hybrid replied.

"And I'm Opal…oddly enough…" The purple hedgehog said, referring to take fact she was lilac, not cream-white.

"Good afternoon class!" Vanilla suddenly said, walking into the classroom. Amy jumped, and quickly started listening.

"Looking through some of your portofolios," Vanilla said, dumping a large load of folders on her desk, "I realized that most of you concentrate of still life. Paintings of nature, Mobians, Overlanders, anything that you see in real life. However, I haven't found a single painting that is abstract. Well, of course, I've seen at least one in each one of your portfolios, but what I mean is that you haven't done anything major in the abstract section."

To Amy's surprise, Scourge was hanging on the every word that Vanilla was saying. It was as though he was actually interested. Out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw Fiona trying to get Scourge's attention. Scourge was completely tuned her out. Fiona glared at him and turned her back to him, crossing her arms. Amy smirked in satisfaction. Well, not that Scourge was tuning out a girl who obviously had a crush on him, but the fact that Fiona was being ignored in general. Something about that fox annoyed her.

"I've been planning an upcoming project, once we review some art history; but I decided that you could handle kicking the school year off with a project. But I'm letting you choose. Would you like some real lessons on Da Vinci and Michelangelo, or an abstract art project? Raise your hands if you want the project…"

Everybody raised their hands.

**X**

**Texting Key:**

**Bold: Rouge**

_Italics: Amy_

Underline: Shadow

**X**

**Hey**

_Just got out of class_

**No duh**

**:)**

_Why am I even friends w/ u?_

**That is a ? we will nev answer**

_LOL_

**Shads w/ u**

_Yes, y_

**Give im ur phone**

_Y_

**Just do it**

_Fine_

Wha

**Nice grammar**

We r txting

**XD**

**Can't even smile in texting…**

_Yes_

**Need to ask you a favor..**

If it involves helping in a jewel theft, I refuse

**Don't jump to conclusions**

…

**Tell u at the party, then. Delete these txts and give the phone to pinkie**

Will do

"Didn't you guys text?" Amy asked in a confused tone as she looked at her phone screen.

"Yes."

"Then why are there no messages."

"I dunno."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Spill it…"

"No."

"Wow, you're blunt."

"He's always like that," Cream said, rolling her eyes as she joined the two outside of the college. They were the only ones present, as the others were stopping at their houses/dorm rooms before they went to Cream's party. Shadow and Amy were going directly over.

"I realized," Amy said, rolling her eyes.

"You won't be able to do anything about it," a voice sounded from behind the trio.

"Correct, Sally," Shadow muttered, more to himself than anybody. The brown chipmunk joined them. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with white jean tights. Simple, yet perfect.

"I heard that," she said, thwacking the back of his head. Shadow glared at her.

"You're lucky you're a girl."

"I know," Sally said sweetly.

Amy held her breath in as they started walking to Cream's house. She still hadn't told Sally about the whole Sonic thing, and she was afraid to. She didn't want to risk their friendship. But telling the truth was important, and Sally was an understanding person. Besides, Sonic had explained everything, and he hadn't intended to pick Amy up. Here goes nothing.

"Sally, could I talk to you back here real quick?" Amy asked.

"Sure," Sally agreed cheerfully slowing her pace so Shadow and Cream could walk ahead, "What's up?"

"I need to tell you something…"

**Okay here we go…**

**OMGTHANKYOUGUYSFOR9REVIEWS! THAT'S THE MOST I EVER GOT IN ANY OF MY 3 FANFICS! SQUEEEEEEE! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**I think you guys noticed that I supposedly concentrate on dialogue. Actually, I don't. I'm helping Dolly out with her story, and she writes with a lot of dialogue. I write with description. So, change of writing style explained.**

**Last thing: I don't support ShadReam. That's needed later on. Sorry!**

**I'll be replying to review through PMs now; except for Christian Wolf99 and any other future guest reviewers.**

**Christian Wolf99: I'm trying to cut the use of OCs to just classes. I was hoping you'd be okay if I just used Spencer Daniel Ricardo. **

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

"I need to tell you something…" Amy whispered uncomfortably. She slowed her pace even more, double-checking that Cream and Shadow were out of hearing distance.

"Come on Amy, you can tell me anything," Sally said, realizing the hedgehog didn't want to say what she was going to, "I'm your friend."

Amy inwardly sighed at the word 'friend.' Would Sally even use that word after she found out what Sonic had done? How she had not refused him?

"Alright, but promise me you won't start yelling unless Shadow and Cream are completely out of hearing distance," Amy said. Sally gave her a confused look, but agreed nonetheless.

"Okay, but why would I yell?"

Amy took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the confession, "After-school-yesterday-Sonic-carried-me-home-after-refusing-to-take-you-home-and-then-we-had-an-argument-and-at-midnight-he-came-through-my-window-and-apologized-and-explained-to-me."

Sally let Amy catch her breath before responding. Her reaction remained neutral as her friend took breaths. She simply kept walking as Amy hurried to catch up.

"Please, please don't be mad, "Amy pleaded under her breath.

"I'm not mad," Sally said, hearing Amy. Amy looked at her in shock, but didn't say anything to interrupt. "I actually knew about this."

"WHAT?!" Amy shouted, causing a passerby who had her window rolled down in her car to give her an odd look.

"Sonic told me this morning," Sally explained, "He told me how he didn't intend to pick you up, and the whole story."

"S-so you aren't angry?" Amy stuttered.

"You guys were and still are best friends, Amy," Sally said with a smirk, "I'd let him take Cream home instead of me; and they're just friends. But I have no right to come between your guy's friendships. You've known him longer than me; actually, it's thanks to you that I met him in the first place."

Amy was still too immersed in absorbing the fact that Sally wasn't angry to care much about the last part. Sally wasn't angry, and their friendship wasn't going to be ruined. That was the only part Amy truly cared about. Surprising Sally, Amy reached over and gave the chipmunk a hug.

"Thanks, Sally," Amy muttered, letting go.

"Same to you," Sally replied with a smile.

They both hadn't realized they had stopped walking after Sally's explanation, as they had been doing it quite subconsciously. They were notified of this only when a shout called them from up above.

"Hurry up!" Shadow yelled, immediately turning back to his book before he got a response. Cream was walking behind him, obviously feeling uncomfortable walking next to him. The small rabbit in question looked back at them with a pleading look in her eyes, and Sally stifled a giggle.

"Poor Cream," Amy said with a slight grin. She and Sally picked up the pace, and Cream slowed down. They met in the middle, Cream's composition immediately changing to a cheerful one.

"It took you long enough!" Cream teased.

"Oh come on, Shadow isn't that bad to talk to," Amy said.

"For you! We're polar opposites!" Cream whined.

"You know what they say," Sally said with a wink, "Opposites attract."

"EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW!" Cream screeched, "GET AWAY FROM ME SALLY!"

Sally and Amy burst out laughing at Cream's reaction. Up ahead, Shadow rolled his eyes, although he was internally agreeing with Cream. In this case, opposites pulled away from each other. It wasn't that Shadow and Cream despised each other; their personalities were incompatible. Cream always had a cheery disposition on everything, whilst Shadow was grumpy, and somewhat distant from the others.

Nearing a yellow house, the conversation between the girls picked up a happier tone. Shadow remained immersed within his book; the title could not be read for the cover was far to worn down. It had the appearance of what seemed like a diary. Crinkled and dusty from the years spent in the closet, the diary indeed looked like something that Laura Ingalls Wilder could have written in across the prairie.

"We're here!" Cream suddenly yelled, causing Shadow to jerk his head up from the book. He saw the yellow and orange house up ahead, and sighed. The black and red hedgehog folded a corner of the page he was on, so he could continue during the party that he had been forced to go to.

Unwillingly, he slowed his paced to meet up with the girls. Ignoring their chatter, he stared at the crisp green leaves on the maple tree in front of the house.

"HEY SHADOW OLD BUD!" A voice suddenly boomed from behind them, clapping a large hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Hello Vector," Shadow responded smoothly, not bothering to look back.

"HI SHADS!" Charmy shouted, barreling into Vector.

"Ey! Watch it Charmy!" Vector yelped swatting the bee away.

"Sorry, Vec," Charmy said, making a comical face.

By then, the girls were already immersed in talk with Julie-Su. Mighty and Espio were in a good-natured argument, presumably something about who was going to make the Speech & Debate Team. Don't ask-you probably don't want to know.

"Hello Mobius! You're favorite hedgehog has arrived!" A voice called, followed by a blue streak spinning to a stop next to Sally.

"Hey guys!" Tails called, following after Sonic.

"This is weird, everybody's coming right in front of Cream's house," Knuckles said, walking up with Silver, Rouge, and Blaze.

"Tell me about it," Shadow muttered. The useless banter annoyed him. Why do these people talk so much needlessly? Why do they not save their breath for real emergencies? What if Charmy suddenly got run over by B. D. Joe-for he was flying by the street-and nobody noticed because they were too busy talking? What would happen then?

Those questions stayed unanswered, as many of Shadow's thoughts did, as Cream pranced up to her door, and conjured a key from her bag, unlocking the door. Before she could look inside however, Sonic suddenly scooped her up and covered her eyes.

"Uh uh uh! The birthday girl doesn't get to see the surprises until we're ready!" Sonic chuckled, carrying her inside.

"Meanie!" Cream shouted, kicking her legs, "I wanna see!"

The others laughed as they followed Sonic inside. They were created by the smell of fresh home-made cookies, and other treats. The aroma was wafting in from the kitchen, where Sonic was setting Cream down. He closed the door quickly before Cream could see anything in the living room.

"Let's get to work!" Tails said, pumping a fist in the air.

"Yeah! Time to make this the best party ever!" Silver cheered.

"LET'S KICK IT!" Charmy yelled randomly.

"No, Charmy, just no. Don't make song references right now," Espio said, shaking his head and tossing a roll of scotch tape to Amy.

"Catch!" Amy said, tossing the tape backwards to Shadow, who caught it with one hand rooted to the spot.

"Rouge," he said, tossing it.

"Thank you!" Rouge said, already on a ladder holding up a streamer.

"I asked Vanilla not to decorate," Blaze explained, handing Mighty a balloon to blow up, "I want to make this extra special. So we all decided on making hand-made gifts and decorating."

"It's gonna be so cool!" Julie-Su claimed.

"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. His eyes averted the glare sent to him by Rouge.

"Better not jinx it," Sonic teased, handing Tails a balloon.

"I'm just glad Cream is still a little kid inside," Shadow proclaimed, "Or else we would never be able to do this."

"Agreed," Rouge said.

In short, the decorating was passed with friendly talk, a few comments from Shadow, and overall happiness.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

"Now?" Cream whined as she crossed her arms. Amy laughed as she removed her hands from the bunny's eyes.

"You like?"

Cream didn't reply for a moment, lost for words. The living room had been decorated with yellow, orange, and red streamers, and the overall color scheme was one that would remind you of summer. The pale carpeting somehow resembled sand, while the streamers and balloons acted as the sky. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Silver, and Shadow had even lugged a huge pole from Tails' workshop and used some artistic help from Amy to turn it into a palm tree.

"No," Cream muttered.

"WHAT?!" Knuckles shouted, pulling at his dreadlocks.

"I LOVE IT!" Cream squealed, turning around and hugging the girls one by one.

"I can't believe you fell for that, Knux," Espio laughed.

Knuckles blushed and muttered something that sounded remarkably like, "I was joking…maybe…kind of…"

"LET'S PAR-TAY!" Rouge suddenly yelled, grabbing a bottle of silly string from her large purse, and spraying Cream. In turn, everybody pulled out grape soda (Knuckles' idea), or silly string. The grape soda was immediately opened, and Cream was drenched.

"YOU GUYS!" She shouted, getting a mouthful of the purple liquid.

"Pay back?" Blaze whispered, the only one not to pull out a bottle. Cream spied two foam squirters in her hand.

"Oh yeah…" Cream said, reaching over and grabbing one. Everybody else was too busy spraying each other now to notice the 'treason.' "PAY BACK TIME!"

With Blaze's aid, everyone was soon covered in foam by Cream. Including the cat and rabbit themselves, as Knuckles had managed to snag an extra bottle from Blaze's back pack.

Wiping the white substance from her face, Cream grinned at her friends. Sonic was grabbing foam that was on the ground and trying to rub it in Sally's face, and a Julie-Su vs. Rest of Chaotix game was going on. Goal of the game: Rub as foam as you can in the opponents face. Of course, Amy, Blaze, and Rouge were helping out Julie-Su. Now Silver was joining in, happily chucking foam in Espio's face.

Party: Success.

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

_**Song of the Day: **_**"Headphones" by Britt Nicole. This is for Twin-books! Check out her/their stories, they're awesome!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**A bit of a Typo: I don't know if you're here yet, but I'll reply anyway. No, it actually wasn't a typo or censorship. I don't like typing full curse words, so I just type the first letter and in place of the other letters, I use asterisks. **

**Christian Wolf99: Okay. :D**

**Mike: OMG, your review made me laugh like crazy!**

**xXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_(Saturday, September 9__th__, 8 o'clock a.m. Amy's bedroom)_

Amy groaned as she attempted to push herself to a sitting position on her bed. The early bird gets the worm, but Amy preferred cereal. Worms were…well, they weren't all that bad. They helped the world, and were known all over Mobius as decomposers. However, they got stuck outside after rain, and lost hydration, dying. Amy was one of the glowing gems for them, having the 'guts' to pick the pink worms and set them back in the soft, welcoming grass.

Off the topic of worms, Amy flopped back on the bed, deciding that she could sleep in another 30 minutes; it was Saturday, after all. Nothing planned…nothing to do…except for homework…and that Shadow was going to help her study at the library at 9 o'clock…nothing important…WAIT, WHAT?!

Amy jolted out of bed and hastily unplugged her phone, which was charging on her nightstand. She accidentally pulled the plug out of the outlet, but that didn't concern her at the moment. Sure enough, there was the texting conversation.

"9...you better be there," Amy read the last text aloud. She looked at the time, and was relieved that it only read 8:03. She had plenty of time to get ready, and walk over to the two-story brown building. Shadow had given her directions yesterday, and she planned on using the map feature on her cellphone to get there.

Deciding it would be a good idea to get ready now; Amy pulled herself out of bed, and plugged her charger in again. Then, she grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom.

It was 45 minutes later that a refreshed pink hedgehog stepped out of Emerald Mansion. She was wearing a red tank top, a denim skirt, brown ankle boots, and her famous red headband. No matter how many personality changes she went through, or how many times she altered her outfits, the red headband always stayed a repetitive part of her outfit.

"Hey, Blaze! Glad I didn't wake you up!" Amy said cheerfully into her cellphone, walking down the marble steps, "I was planning on walking to the library, but then I figured you'd be awake. Do you think you could drive me?"

"I guess; when do you want me to be at Emerald Mansion?" The voice from the other side responded.

"Well, I'm outside right now, and I've got…12 minutes to get to the library," Amy said, taking the phone from her ear for a moment to peer at the time.

"I'll be there in 1."

"How can you be he-"

Before Amy could finish her query, there was a beep, signaling that the call ended. With a sigh, Amy sat down on the bottom step. She would've gone with Shadow, but he left at 5 o'clock. It was no wonder he was the smartest kid in college. Nobody showed as much determination as him. To the fact, he had not been coined 'the teacher's pet.' He wasn't sugar-coated by the teachers, and he didn't butter them up either. He seemed passive in class, but everyone knew that the silent Mobian held a higher IQ than the Sonic group combined.

I know what you're thinking-what about Tails?! Well, the fox's expertise was in mechanics and technology. He was better at those things than the whole college combined, but Shadow still surpassed him in the academic department. There used to be a rivalry between them, but it subsided to a slight throb preventing the two from becoming true friends.

"Hey, Amy!"

Amy looked up at the sound of the purple cat. Blaze was in the driver's seat of Rouge's convertible, oddly enough.

"Why do you have Rouge's car?" Amy asked questioningly as she opened the shotgun's door.

"We stayed at Cream's really late because she needed help with something, it actually turned into a huge sleep over-'course, it was just me, Rouge, and Cream," Blaze replied, pushing the sunglasses on her eyes up on her forehead. She pressed the gas pedal and smoothly pulled out of the driveway when Amy had put on her seat belt.

"Figured, how weird would it be for the boys to be there?" Amy said, rolling her eyes. Blaze snorted as she turned right at an intersection.

"Why do you need to go library this early anyway?" Blaze asked, eyes trained on the road.

"Oh, Shadow said he'd help me study."

Blaze promptly slammed her foot on the gas pedal, causing Amy to shriek in terror.

"Blaze!"

Blaze turned around to face her pink friend, ignoring the honks behind her, "Shadow _never _helps _anybody _study! Well, except for Maria. But that was a long time ago."

The mention of the death of the human girl was aggravating Amy more and more. Nobody had told her _how _Maria had passed away. It was just like POOF Maria vanished! What if Maria had been murdered? What if she had committed suicide?

Amy couldn't ask these questions. It was much too personal, and as far as everybody else was concerned, none of her business. She didn't have the guts to ask her father or mother, best friends, and she certainly couldn't ask Shadow. He'd probably blow and start yelling.

"Well, here we are," Blaze said quietly. It was only then that Amy realized she had said the last two paragraphs. She felt a pang in her heart, and she bit her lip. Nobody was supposed to hear that.

"Blaze let me explain-"

"I can't believe you thought that Maria would commit suicide," Blaze said bitterly, pointing to the door of the car. Amy took the hint and immediately unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out.

"Just don't tell Shadow," Amy begged.

"I'm afraid it's too late," Blaze muttered, pulling out of the parking lot before Amy could question what she meant.

There was no need for a question as a hand pressed itself on Amy's shoulder. Amy took a sharp breath, afraid of who it was. She knew who, of course, but she didn't want to believe it. Amy just couldn't look at the gloved hand on her shoulder as it steered her into the library.

Amy numbly felt herself shoved into a seat at one of the many tables. A small part of her consciousness took in the black and red quills, leather jacket, and cold expression. The other active part took note that no other students were present, only the librarian sitting bored at the check-out counter.

"I said, what were you thinking?"

Amy forced herself out of trance as the ruby orbs hardened even more. She didn't respond, knowing whatever she said could not calm Shadow. She knew how sensitive he was about Maria in general-even when she was alive. Now that she wasn't here, and she couldn't be again. The blonde hair and shining blue eyes couldn't walk the earth in the young girl's form.

"I was thinking what I was thinking. And I can't change that. It's too late for that. You're angry at me, and I already know that even if I say anything, you still will be. That's the way life is. You shut everybody out. No matter how much they care about you. Except for Maria," Amy couldn't stop. She let the words roll of her tongue. She didn't bother to take in Shadow's reaction. "You let her in, you embraced her. She was like a sister to you, and eventually you convinced everyone you were. But we all knew you weren't related by blood-"

Shadow growled.

"but, that didn't matter. You guys loved each other. She taught you how to love _others. _That was enough for us. But your love crashed when she died last year. You built a cage around your heart. You shut everyone out. Your emotions were trapped. Your heart was an overcrowded zoo, and the animals were all trapped without food. You decided you couldn't love again."

Amy slowly stood up, not even caring that that Shadow had barely exchanged a word. She didn't care about studying. There was no place in her for education if her friends weren't alongside her. Life couldn't be lived without friends, and Shadow would have to realize that soon.

"What you don't realize Shadow," Amy glared at the ebony hedgehog. His head was bent down and his fist were loosely clenched, "Is that there are some things more important than studies. There are things that can make you smile in the rain. There are things that can make you cry in the sunshine. Every day will be the same if you don't fight to find your way. A lot of people say other don't change. But they're always the people who don't show others _how_ to change. I don't want to be one of those people. That's why I'm telling you: Maria would want you to change, Shadow."

With that, Amy turned around and started to stalk away. The librarian had watched the whole speech, but hadn't said a word in protest. Then Amy realized something odd about the librarian. She looked young. She had orange hair, and blue eyes. But the most noticeable thing was that she was a human. This neighborhood was filled with Mobians, but Overlanders were rare. Amy's eyes met the sky-colored orbs, and she was surprised to find a sympathetic glint in them.

Without another word, and before Amy reached the door, the girl slipped out from behind the desk and into the storage room. Amy realized why she had done this when she heard the noise behind her.

It was a sob.

It was Shadow.

He was crying.

Quietly.

But he was still crying.

Amy looked in disbelief at the Ultimate Life Form. She hadn't intended to get this reaction, but something felt_ satisfying_ seeing Shadow crying. Not in the mean way, but Amy couldn't place her finger on it. Then she realized.

Shadow was crying because what Amy said was right. He understood. He had taken in the words, and they had reached somewhere deeper than his triangular ears. They had travelled down through his chest, into his heart. Into his understanding.

Amy smiled to herself, despite the predicament. She knew there was no need for another word to be said. She walked out the doors without a second thought.

_**(Shadow's POV)**_

She was right. I knew it. So I did something that I thought I'd never do. I started crying. Quietly, of course, but I heard her turn around and look at me. Well, you can't hear looking, but I was assuming she was looking, why else would she turn around?

My clenched fists loosened further, and eventually crumbled. I slowly reached a finger up and wiped a last tear from my eye, and looked up. Molly was gone. I didn't see a ponytail of orange anywhere, nor any blue eyes. She must've left when I started crying because I saw her when Amy was talking.

It wasn't like I planned on teaching Amy anything; I was planning on her reading that huge math textbook and making her figure out stuff on her own. That was how I figured out stuff.

But Amy had just proved me wrong. Ever so wrong. It was like she was an embodiment of Maria. That was what Maria would say. Maria would want me to change. She would want me to love, she would want me to let in others. She wouldn't want me to be the quiet guy who had no friends. She wouldn't want me to be a loner. She wouldn't want me to drag myself away from communicating with others.

She would want to love. To care. To have people I could count on. Or in this case, a person.I guess I owed Amy a lot more than some help with homework tomorrow.

I slowly stood up from the table, and spotted a pink blob walking down the sidewalk in front of the library dejectedly. I'll admit, my vision was still clouded slightly by tears…very slightly. But they held the same whirl of emotion, the same deepening thoughts. The same message.

Amy was the answered to my problems. The rope that could save me from the endless abyss of falling emotions. Amy Rose the Hedgehog was now carrying my heart with her.

All I could do was hope that she wouldn't drop it.

**Phew! Here's my promised present of 50 reviews! Over 2,000 words, the most emotional chapter I've written, Shadow's Point Of View, and the ShadAmy interaction started! Bonus: I used up my Saturday and Friday writing this. Like crazy. **

**VERY IMPORTANT YOU MUST READ BELOW:**

**Okay, so big thing? It's up to YOU whether this ends up SonAmy or ShadAmy. Give me a PM or a review with one of those words. **

**With finger cramps and You Lead by Jamie Grace playing in the background, Meadow's signing off folks!**

**-Meadow**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**ShadAmy: 9 votes**

**SonAmy: …0… votes**

**IMPORTANT:**

**Poll up on profile for this story. :)**

**Author of the day: aliixo**

**Guess who: Britt Nicole is a Christian Pop artist, and yeah the song goes like that. :) Don't worry, fluff will come along! This will be either SonAmy or ShadAmy. Probably ShadAmy.**

**Sorry about any grammatical mistakes.**

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_**(Shadow's POV, continuing from last chapter)**_

I chose not to leave the library immediately. The old scent and the quaint feeling comforted me. I had gone here to talk to somebody as long as I could remember, well, after Maria wasn't here anymore. She had been the first person I went to. I knew she would understand, especially since she had been, and in a way still was, Maria's best friend. They reminded so much of each other it was almost impossible.

And I'm not talking about looks. I don't fall for a girl for her looks. I need a girl who will understand. And I guess…me girl who has the ability to keep me calm at times. There were times when the world crumbled beneath me, and over me. I needed protection from that.

They called me the Ultimate Life Form, but in many ways I wasn't. I had incredible strength, great knowledge, and speed to match it all. But what I did not have is the ability to control my emotions. The mention of Maria destroyed me, inside and out. I crumbled, which frightened my friends terribly.

Despite what Amy had assumed, my so called acquaintances were my friends. Although none of them replaced Maria, I knew they cared about me as deeply as Maria had. They had stood beside me through the mental ordeals, and did not utter a word about my ignoring of them; nor my coldness.

Now it was brought to my attention that in a way that was a bad thing. Had my supposed friends not cared enough to try to help me put my past behind me? That was what Amy was implying, and I was starting to believe it.

I do not know if that was her intended message, but it came out as that, with or without her consent. At least it was like that in my perspective. That hedgehog needed to think out her speeches before she started speaking them. Now I was terribly confused-something I had started to experience frequently around her. I didn't like confusion. It was a sense of untrustworthiness of one's self and true instinct. It denied me the right to remain silent around her. I took away my right…to be unhappy. It was odd, even before Maria, I had been anti-social. But I wasn't as unhappy. I was stable. Not saying I'm mentally unstable-but I didn't go haywire at the mention of name.

I was happy.

Now that feeling escaped me. I thought that my world encompassed only tragedy, fear, and bitterness. Key word? _Thought. _Amy had only said what had been coming to her mind at that moment; it was rushed, and was in a way an excuse. But it was not faulty. It told me the flaws that I had collected.

It told me everything that Maria would have said in the exact situation.

Amy Rose was indeed something different from the person I had seen so many years back. She had grown up. For good or bad was determined. My horizons were expanding, all the way to the warm-colored sunsets above the glistening water.

I stood where I was for another minute or so, but Molly did not return. In truth, this worried me. The last thing I wanted was for the female to get hurt. I was assured Molly was not hurt when a pair of familiar blue eyes poked out of the door.

"Hey Shadow!" the human teenager said, walking towards me.

I smiled at her, acknowledging her greeting, "I better get going. I'm sorry we did not get to talk."

"It's okay…especially since today is…you know…" Molly said, gravely nodding her head.

I wasn't aware of what she meant until I walked out of the doors of the building. I forcefully smacked my forehead when the answer popped into my mind. Today was Maria's birthday. I couldn't believe I forgot. I remembered this morning-that was why I left my house early. I wanted to visit Maria's grave. But one thing led to another, and for once, Molly and I got caught in friendly banter.

I walked down the parking lot, not wanting to alarm anybody with a yellow light suddenly flashing by their eyes. However, the second I hid the sidewalk-it was good-bye to the consent of others. I zipped down the walkway, ignoring shouts. These people should be used to fast-moving objects by now, with me, Sonic, and Jet living here.

And let's not forget the overwhelming sense of guilt building up inside my chest. Maria was the most important thing to me in this world, and I had forgotten her birthday for 10 solid minutes. Okay…maybe it wasn't _that _much, but I still forgot! That was enough. Especially if it was about the figure with the blonde hair, blue eyes, and childish smile. The one she had sacrificed…for me…

Now that was the past, and I must concentrate on the present. It honestly didn't help that I saw an incredibly familiar blue blur speeding up behind me. I ignored him, though, and mentally reminded myself to smack him on the head next time I saw him.

"Hey, Faker!" Sonic shouted, catching up to me. I made no effort to respond, he wasn't worth my time. Not at this moment.

"Somebody's cranky!" Sonic teased. This hedgehog was extremely irritating. He was a thorn in my life, but in a way was a mild one. He knew when to stop, and we did have a rather…bitter…rivalry.

"Come on, say something, Grumpy pants!" Sonic complained, passing me. What annoyed me greater was that he started running backwards, and perfectly avoided an obstructing mail box.

"You can't catch me!" Sonic said in a sing-song voice, crossing his arms. If he could just shut up already!

"Be quiet blue hedgehog," I hissed, putting on a great burst of speed and passing him.

"Lemme think…nah!" Sonic cheered, pulling ahead of me once again…still running backwards. If I could just get this hedgehog to stop bothering me. Hold on….maybe I can.

"Weren't you supposed to go on a date with Sally?" I asked, abruptly stopping. I smirked and held in a laugh as Sonic fell with his sudden stop. He jumped up and his eyes became as wide as saucers.

"S***! S***! I BETTER GO! AGH! SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!" Sonic shouted, practically pulling his quills out before speeding away.

Ah, the advantages of listening into the girls at parties. No, not that I was eavesdropping. Okay, in a way I was, but I was bored. The boys had been chucking foam at each other, and I had no desire in joining in. How does one enjoy smashing foam in another's face?

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_**(Amy's POV. After leaving library)**_

I only understood what I had said when I stepped out. I bit my lip in fear. For all I knew, Shadow could suddenly come barging out like a raging bull. But…had I just seen the Ultimate Life Form cry? That wasn't right.

Too nervous to look back, I headed down the parking lot scarce of cars to the sidewalk lining the bustling street. I desired nothing more than to catch a train back to Mercia; but I couldn't do that. My parents would be so ashamed of me, and I would be to. I had never run away from anything, and I wasn't about to break that street.

I had the sudden feeling that somebody was looking at me, and automatically turned around. It's a funny feeling, and I never understood why it came to me. It was an odd ability, but I was aware that many were able to do this. Back to the point, I wasn't extremely surprised to find a green hedgehog with light blue eyes staring at me. I didn't have to look twice, the leather jacket with flames explained it all so easily.

I didn't even change my pace as I headed towards Emerald Mansion, knowing that Scourge would follow me either way. The only thing that surprised me was that he hadn't said anything to me this whole time, and had only increased his pace to meet mine.

There we were, walking side by side. The player and the pink hedgehog; funny how life works, huh? I was given an odd look by some college students, and one or two high school students who were out this early for who knows why.

"Did you get started on the project?" Scourge asked suddenly.

Knowing what he meant, I responded, "Yes, why do you ask."

"I dunno. It felt awkward walking next to you without saying anything."

"So you're not gonna start hitting on me?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

"No. I figured I couldn't touch you," Scourge responded with a shrug, "So I figured to get a little out of character for once. I'm not all bad boy, you know."

"Shocker."

"That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

So there we were, walking home. Well, I was walking home. He was going who knows where. Scourge's talk alarmed me in a way. Was he just buttering me up so that I would let my guard down? Why did he even run into me?

This world is too small for its own good.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**VERY IMPORTANT:**

**4/20/14:**

**Misery Severity is a writer on fanfiction who has been facing a lot of haters. She had now said she will give up on writing, just because of them!**

**We need to give Misery Severity hope! Give her a PM or drop a review (I'll send it to her) telling her why she should continue! Let's make hope pull Misery Severity out of the hole!**

**I needed to get to Chapter 26 on my other story to get 62 reviews. I'm on Chapter 12, and we've got 73 reviews. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!**

**Short chapter, I'm sorry. But it's necessary, as it comes into play in the future. Also, I noticed the plot hole from Chapter 2, so I fixed that! I wrote that a drunk driver killed Maria, but I edited it out. All good!**

**xXxXxXxXxXx**

Amy sidled into the mansion silently; hoping with all her heart that Shadow hadn't beat her there. It appeared he hadn't, taken the eerie silence of the large home. With a huge sigh of relief, Amy started up the stairs to the guest room. Saturdays were boring as far as she was concerned, and the way to wilt boredom was the paint.

After getting to the guest room, she changed in to an old tee shirt and a pair of worn out high-waisted short. In the corner of the room was a special pink and red backpack, which had originally been inside her duffel bag. Amy grabbed it and settled on a large, empty spot in the room.

After that, she unzipped the backpack and reached inside without looking. She pulled out several different containers holding paint, still not looking. This time, she peered into the back pack and grabbed a page of newspaper, 12 inches by 12 inches piece of cardboard, and a clean white paper that was 12 inches by 12 inches.

Grabbing some Scotch tape, Amy taped the piece of paper on to the cardboard neatly, meticulously checking that there were no folds. After setting that down on part of the newspaper page, she poured her assortment of colors in separate spots on the newspaper. Finished with that set-up, she carefully placed the containers back in the backpack, and pushed it away.

With that, Amy dipped her finger in a blue color, and rubbed it across the top of the paper. Smiling, she continued to dip her finger in the blue, until she had drawn the outline of a figure. With that finished, she used two other fingers to mix a brown and white together, creating a peachish color. After spreading that and adding blue, red, white, and yellow; Amy dipped her pinkie in a dazzling green, and tapped gently on two places on the paper.

Amy wiped her fingers on a paper towel before picking up the paper to admire her work. She couldn't help but smile at the grinning hedgehog that was paused in action on the canvas. Finger painting didn't necessarily have to be a thing for little kids, nor did it have to be abstract. It just made Amy happy to feel the cool liquid coating her finger as it was rubbed on to the canvas. The thing was that painting didn't need to have something great come out of it; it could just be used to calm down, or carve away hours.

With a slight giggle, Amy reached into her backpack for her trusty roll of Scotch tape. After finding it, she peeled the piece of paper of the cardboard, as she had used quick-drying paint. Standing up with both the tape and picture, Amy walked over to the nightstand by her bed, and firmly taped the picture on to the red wall.

Giggling in happiness, Amy skipped over to the now messy newspaper, and grabbed it, shoving it in to a trash can. Changing back into her original outfit, she grabbed her cellphone, and chose to call Cream, knowing that she woke up at 9:00, and 1 hour had already passed by.

Sighing as Cream didn't pick up; Amy decided to go for a walk; to enjoy the rare fresh day in September.

_At the cemetery…_

Shadow knelt down in front of the bleak tombstone, staring at the engraved message. It was so long since the funeral, but he had visited Maria's grave frequently. Refusing to take in the wording at the bottom, Shadow looked at anything but the short time in which she had lived.

_Maria Robotnik_

_Cousin to Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik_

_Sister to Shadow the Hedgehog_

_Granddaughter to Gerald Robotnik_

_A young girl who was friendly to all that she knew and many she did not._

_Lost in a tragedy, the sweet girl will always be remembered_

It wasn't something amazing, and certainly wasn't great wording, but it mean a lot to Shadow, and he sighed as he placed a bouquet of flowers-her favorite, tulips-in front of the grave. Closing his eyes as he could no longer look at the rock, Shadow spoke, as he always did to his sister.

"Maria…I'm so sorry. If I had been more aware, you would have been alive. I shouldn't have let you go. You had sacrificed your life to save that small child, and you had to pay the price…I hope your happy where you are now. I hope that you're smiling right now, just like you were before you left."

Opening his eyes, Shadow stared at the ground, as if wishing to her a reply. As though he had gotten an answer, the ebony hedgehog stood up gravely, and looked at the tulips one more time. With a heaving sigh, Shadow walked out of the cemetery, heading towards home at a slow pace.

Unknown to him, there were a pair of jade eyes peering at him curiously from the secluded corner of the grave area…


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Amy did not utter a word nor did she move. She stood where she was, observing the scene unfolding before her eyes. A black hedgehog, with ruby red highlights, and red eyes. A bouquet of tulips. A tombstone. The community grave yard. Simply put, Amy wanted to see what was going to happen; for she had already noted that the words "Maria Robotnik" could be read from the grave.

Ignoring any odd looks from Mobians walking by, Amy continued to watch her friend set the bouquet in front of the grave. She could've sworn she heard him say something, but she wasn't quite sure _exactly _what he said, but she made out some of the words near the middle.

It was clear that Shadow didn't want his actions to be watched, but nonetheless, Amy kept a sharp eye on him, catching all his actions. She was out of Shadow's eyesight, in a dark part right outside the fencing of the cemetery. Under the safety of low-hanging branches of a tree, Amy was standing in a slightly rigid position, arms held tight against her body. Her legs were like sticks, very hard to break sticks.

The only sound escaping from the rosy pink figure was the shortened breathing. The shock was starting to settle in as she fully comprehended those words she had caught. "Sacrifice," and "Child," and "Pay the price." She suddenly wished she had not wished to find out what happened to the human girl, as she felt as though she could not take the pain that was enveloping her fragile heart.

Amy held her breath for a moment as Shadow walked by, exiting the grim plot of land. Only letting go of the air when Shadow was a good 15 feet away, Amy grabbed a non-spiked part of the fence, trying her best to stop her knees from turning to jelly. She was unsure why these words were having such an effect on her, as she had not known Maria that well. All she knew was that Maria was not biologically related to Shadow, and they had in a way adopted each other.

That's when Amy remembered the reason why they had strung the sibling relationship. Shadow had no parents. They had died long ago, his mother at his birth, and his father due to cancer. Maria lived with her grandfather, and Gerald Robotnik had agreed to take Shadow in upon his granddaughter's wish.

What made Amy feel even worse was the fact she had forgotten all of this. Something that was so important to her friend, and was important to the Sonic Team. Something that was so important to _her. _For a long time she had been wondering what the other 95 percent of her heart had been doing. Apparently it had divided itself into different parts…and started a war.

10 percent of her heart was stuck in a battle.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

**Don't yell at me for the short chapter. It was needed as well, and a lot of you have been asking for ShadAmy to come into play. Well, here you go. I'll try to update tomorrow. Thank you to the 19 reviewers! You guys make me so happy!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**2000 views! 89 Reviews! You know what would make me faint? If we got 100 reviews before Chapter 20. Might even put a little something special…*hint hint* **

**Author of the Day: The Unknown Mystery (She's got a SonAmy fanfiction)**

**I'm so sorry about the short chapter…I have finals coming up and going on, but I don't want to suddenly stop updating.**

_(Amy's POV)_

I found my limbs acting of their own will. A subconscious part of my brain controlling my feet, moving them down the sidewalk, and down to the oh-so-familiar home. I wasn't sure who's house, I was still numb from shock and surprise. I didn't want to know this. I didn't. I just didn't. This wasn't right. Maria had given up her life to save a child? I didn't understand. She was only 12, so wasn't she a child? I was too confused.

I found myself in front of an oak door, with a shining door knob, and a matching knocker. Senselessly, I reached up and knocked. I was barely aware of the shouts coming from inside the large home, and the giggles and laughter whelming up as the door opened.

"Ames?"

I slowly tilted my head upwards to stare at the fastest thing alive looking at me with great concern. My appearance must have been worse than I thought, taken by his silence and ushering in. I felt his hand tighten around my wrist, taking me into the hallway. The walls were painted a light beige color, and a wonderful aroma was wafting in from the room positioned at the end of the hallway.

"Mom?" Sonic asked, pausing at the doorway to the kitchen, his hand was still around my wrist.

"Mm?" A purple hedgehog asked, turning around. Her hair down past her knees, and was a darker purple. Her eyes were the same color as Sonic's. She was wearing a white dress. All in all, she was beautiful.

"You remember Ames, right?" Sonic asked gently.

"Of course!" Aleena said, suddenly grabbing Amy into a hug. The victim weakly hugged the motherly figure back, unable to say anything. "It's great to see you again, Amy!"

"Same here, Mrs. Hedgehog."

"Well, I'm sure you came for something to do with school! Better get going!" Aleena said happily, turning back to the pot boiling on the blue fire. Boy was she so wrong. Sonic grabbed my wrist again, and practically dragged me out of the kitchen. I was surprised that he was just towing me around, not even bothering to ask what I was doing. I supposed that my appearance was enough to explain everything.

"Ames? You still in there?" Sonic asked, not looking back at me as he pulled me up the stairs. I nodded weakly, before realizing he wasn't looking at me.

"Yes, thanks," I muttered. I wasn't sure if Sonic heard me; if he did, he kept it to himself as he guided me down the hallway upstairs. Pretty soon, I was inside Sonic's bedroom. I had trouble concealing my laughter when I saw his bed was a race car.

"Hey!" Sonic said indignantly, jabbing my arm, "Don't question my bed!"

"I'll question you instead," I snorted.

Sonic rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. I teasingly did the same thing, feeling much better already. We stared at each other for a long time, serious expressions quivering, ready to turn into smile. Eventually, I had to give in and burst out laughing. Sonic started shortly after me, and we let the happiness ring through the room with blue-painted walls for quite some time.

"Feel better?" Sonic asked, his soft green eyes piercing my own green ones. I nodded happily.

"Yeah, thanks."

"So what's wrong?" Sonic asked, getting serious all of a sudden. I sighed and folded my hands in my lap, unsure of what to say.

"Could I ask a question first?"

"You just did."

"Then I'm going to ask you another one."

"Shoot."

"Weren't you supposed to be on a date with Sally?"

"WHY DOES EVERYONE REMEMBER MY DATES EXCEPT FOR ME?!" Sonic suddenly shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. He gave out an embarrassed cough upon seeing my bemused expression. "We cancelled. Apparently it's her niece Alexis or something," Sonic said after a while, scratching his head.

"Oh, okay," I said, nodding my head. He chuckled, and I chose not to question why. Boys were confusing to me, and I'm pretty sure I was confusing to them.

"So what's wrong?" Sonic asked again, leaning back and grinning aloofly at me.

"I found out what happened to Maria. I saw Shadow at the cemetery," I suddenly blurted out. I cringed as I said the last word. I didn't like that word; it felt horrible to hear it roll of my tongue. I always felt horrible when I saw a cemetery, especially on days when people were visiting graves. None of my older relatives had passed away before, but cemetery was still a sensitive word to me.

"Oh…Ames…I'm so sorry. I thought you knew…" Sonic said slowly, his grin disappearing and a grave frown replacing it on his muzzle. I frowned at him in confusion; I hadn't seen Sonic's mood change this heavily for a long while.

"W-what happened?" I stuttered out. He gave me a sorrowful glance before he related the short story.

"There was a fire in the apartment that Shadow, Maria, and Dr. Gerald Robotnik were staying at for a short time. Dr. Robotnik dragged Shadow and Maria out, but Maria got lost in the crowd. Later on, it was reported that Maria had ran back in for their neighbor's toddler-which they had left at home. The toddler was abused…and Maria didn't want its life to end. She was afraid the firefighters wouldn't find it, because the kid was quiet or something. So…they managed to save the kid…but not Maria…" Sonic trailed off, unsure of what else to say. By that time, Amy had covered her ears and was silently crying. To her surprise she felt a pair of strong arms hug her, but immediately let go.

"It's okay, Amy," Sonic assured.

"W-who was the toddler?" Amy whispered, wiping the remaining tears with the back of her hand. Sonic gave her an imploring look, but softly whispered his response.

"Everybody calls him General because he's always into military stuff…but he won't tell anybody his real name. Only Maria knew that."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_(Amy's POV)_

It bit my lip, using all my strength not to cry. I would not cry. Never in a million years in front of Sonic. Not anymore, I was stronger than that, I just knew it. Then why was there a trail of liquid pouring out of my eyes?

I wrapped my arms around myself as Sonic continued nervously. I could tell he didn't want to tell me anything else, knowing that I would break down into howls. I knew I would, but I also knew that I wanted to know the whole story. No-not wanted, needed. I had to know this. Just because I was gone for 6 years doesn't mean that whatever happened during that time period isn't important.

"Maria was the only person General trusted. Now he's in the orphanage, his parents were killed in the fire. Nobody's adopted him yet, but Shadow visits for the sake of Maria now and then," he said gingerly, treading on rough waters, "He's happier now."

"I'm glad," I sniffled, wiping away some of the tears pouring out of my eyes. Sonic gave me a sympathetic look, and to my surprise, suddenly pulled me into a hug. I stiffened, but then remembered what Sally had said. Nothing could come between Sonic's and my friendship-so I hugged him back.

I liked the days back when this simple hug would mean nothing more than pure comfort in a hard situation, but now because of our age and maturity, it meant something more for some people. For me, it just meant that Sonic and I were as best of friends as we had been before 7th grade. I didn't have to chase him anymore…but I wasn't sure for what reason. Was it because I had lost interest in him over the developing years, or was it because he knew that I was still in love with him? No, I was certain this was not infatuation. I was sure from the day I turned 8 that I was infatuated with Sonic the Hedgehog. I was in love with him. For whatever reason, I was. But now…everything had changed. For the better or worse, I was still unaware of.

I unwillingly pulled out of the embrace, not wanting to leave Sonic's comforting grasp. As I did, I wiped away a lone tear and smiled gratefully at my best friend. He smiled back at me, his eyes full of empathy. I slowly stood up from my position, and he did the same.

"Do you want me to drop you home?" Sonic asked carefully. I shook my head, afraid that if I opened my mouth I would start bawling.

"Alright…I know this might totally sound off topic, but…Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead," Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. I stared at him for a moment . Out of all the people I had met, I had never expected Sonic to make an Adele reference. He shrugged again, "Hey, Maria loved Shadow with all her heart. They were family, but her death hurt him so much because he loved her so much."

I nodded grimly and wrapped my arms around my chest. I didn't know Sonic was so deep, but I didn't know a lot of stuff about him. I don't know why…but I suddenly started thinking about the quote. Aloud. So Sonic could hear.

"The loneliest people can be the kindest."

"Maria."

"The saddest people smile the brightest."

"…Me…"

"The most damaged people are filled with wisdom."

"Shadow."

With every sentence I said, Sonic matched the description perfectly with the people I had been thinking about. It was true, before Shadow, Maria had been lonely with only her grandfather. It was only know that Sonic was sad, but he always kept a cocky grin on, always ready to help. And Shadow's past…was just torn up and shredded to pieces, but he always knew right from wrong.

"I'm going to get going," I finally replied after a while of staring at each other. He nodded slowly, and briskly walked out the door of his room. I followed after a moment, running to catch up with him. Sonic was already in the hallway by the kitchen, impatiently tapping his foot. I laughed silently, regular you're-too-slow Sonic.

"Bye, Mrs. Hedgehog!" I called over Sonic shoulder.

"I'll see you soon hopefully, Amy!" Aleena called over her shoulder, smiling. I nodded and waited for Sonic to unlock the door. He did so, and I stepped out into the warming rays of the sun. With one more look behind, I started the walk to my most favorite place in the world.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

I sat down on one of the creaky swings, pumping my legs back and fort to move the rusty items. I was at the neighborhood park, which was abandoned. With all the unpredictable weather, it had heightened to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). Mobotropolis was a big town, and it was very close to all its neighboring towns. Everybody travelled to others town almost every day, but we were closest to Knothole-mainly because our mayors were related.

I lifted my hand up to push a strand of hair out of my eyes, enjoying the cool wind whipping my face as I willed for the swing to heighten its altitude. With a smile playing on my lips, I felt some happiness grow out of the horrible start of the day. I stopped moving my legs, allowing the swing to start its process of gliding to a stop. I tilted my head to look up at the eggshell blue sky.

I dragged my legs against the wood chips covering the playground, quickening the stopping process. I jumped off the swing, and walked out of the playground area, onto the spring green grassy area enclosing the play area. I flopped myself on the grass, stomach up. I watched as the clouds drifted by, imagining that I was up there, flying with no support, looking up at the ground from underneath. I would visit the Seven Natural Wonders of the World…the ones that no Mobian or Overlander made. The one that were just there.

The Grand Canyon.

The Great Barrier Reef.

The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro.

Mount Everest.

Aurora.

All the things that we wouldn't touch…and we couldn't bring ourselves to touch. The amazing things of the world that were here without any help. Those special things. The special things that were a part of this world. The things that knew what their place in this world was.

I sure didn't.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_(Sonic's POV)_

I stared at Amy until she was out of my sight. Her shoulders drooping, and dragging her feet. Her hair was a wild mess, but I figured it would be a good idea not to tell her. I didn't exactly want to be on the receiving end of her hammer.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!"

I closed the door and smashed my head against it, why couldn't I have a normal family? Sure, I loved my mom…but then there were my siblings…

"You just had a girl over? Man…somebody's a cheater," A green boy hedgehog said, walking by while twirling a drum stick through his fingers. Unfortunately for Manic, he walked smack into a wall. That's what happens when you have such a smug look on your face that your eyes are closed.

"What's Sally gonna think?!" A dark magenta girl hedgehog called from the stairs, leaning on the railing. Sonia stared at me with a scrutinizing look.

"Calm down you two, that was Amy," Mom said, walking into the hall. She walked over to Manic, and wrenched the drum stick away from the 7 year old.

"Oh, I remember her!" A certain 11 year old called from the stairs. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"No duh."

"Shut up!"

"Ladies first."

"You shut up then I will!"

"I'm not a lady," I said, sticking out my tongue. I saw Mom roll her eyes out of the corner of my eye, and walk back into the kitchen. With a sigh, I helped Manic up. He wobbled over to the stairs and attempted to climb up them, before falling flat on his face. I sighed and massaged my temple. They were adorable, but annoying. Especially Sonia, she's a neat freak. Manic's clumsy, but I still loved them to death.

By this time, Sonic had gone back into her room, and Manic had followed after her into our shared bedroom. I leaned against the wall of the hallway, trying to decide what to do. Knuckles had some family business to attend to, Silver and Tails were at a Science Convention, what Amy had just told me ruled out Shadow, so I was alone. And there was only one thing to do when I was alone.

I pushed myself off the wall and sped down into the basement. I took every third step down the stairs, as stepping on every one would make me trip due to my speed. I abruptly stopped myself before making contanct with the wall, whistling at the close call. Stepping away from the concrete rectangle, I walked over to the wall facing it. There were many instruments gathered there, but a drum set, piano, and guitar were front and center. With a smile, I picked up the acoustic, and positioned myself on a bar stool nearby.

I carefully slipped the guitar chip off the necklace that I wore every day, and strummed my guitar. With a wider smile, I continue to play the required chords to the song.

_I ain't no mind reader_

_I don't know what you want_

_I need ya to tell me_

_All that you desire_

_So baby please tell me now_

_If you love me so,_

_Tell me all that you want_

_I'll sail the seven seas_

_To get it for you_

_I'll travel to the moon_

_Across the globe_

_Through all of the states_

_And pick every flower_

_But just tell me what you want_

I frowned as I stopped. I hadn't figured out the rest of the song yet, but I still loved it. I know a lot of people complain that they're girlfriend is begging, but then some people complain that their girlfriend won't tell that what they want. Apparently, if girls tell us what they want, they're begging, if they don't, well, then they're just annoying. For me? Sally could tell me whatever she wanted; I'd get it for her.

I decided to do an already made song, as I was still bored. I stared off into space, trying to figure out which one to do. I eventually set my guitar to the side and scratched my head. I didn't want to do a song that didn't describe me right now. With a sigh, I picked up my guitar again, and started to play the oh-so-familiar chords.

_Her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining…_

As I continued to sing the song, I wondered who I was thinking about. It was obvious that it was the girl that I liked. The one that I had been in love with upon first sight, and the one that had loved me back. She was so sociable with our friends, and fit in perfectly.

But it wasn't Sally.

***stutters* 1-1-105…reviews…OMG YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST EVER! I LOVE YOU! So here's the gift, and you can thank twin-books for it. Sonic's POV! I love you all to pieces. :)**


	16. Final Chapter

**Chapter 16**

**IMPORTANT NOTE:**

**This is the last chapter. I'm turning my laptop in on Wednesday for school, so it was going to be really hard to update. I am going to do a sequel. But, I'm working on another ShadAmy story right now-I published it yesterday. (Title: Collecting the Pieces)**

_(Shadow's POV)_

I effortlessly skimmed up the hill, awaiting the arrival of my new female friend. I needed to apologize to her, and explain some things. Unlike others, she deserved the full and truthful explanation to this whole predicament. The stars were shining above my head, like the day I had met Maria. The moon was a waxing crescent, just like the day I met Molly.

With the rush of the wind echoing through the memories, I settled myself down on the soft grass, looking over Mobotropolis. This was one of the only places in Mobotropolis that had not been Mobianized as I liked to call it. It was the same as it was when it was first made.

I allowed a simple sigh to escape my lips, enjoying the rare peaceful night. There were no clouds blocking the lights shining from above, and no city noises escaped to the peaceful area. Everything was perfect, and I could explain everything to her without a single worry in the world. Throwing my head back I gazed at the moon. It was a mystical thing to me. So many legends followed it, even though Mobian and human exploration had reached it.

What made it so special to me was that Earth and Mobius had the same moon, although they had parallel universes. I was on Earth now, like many of the Mobian immigrants. My father had migrated here after the Great War.

It was not his wisest choice, as he wasn't used to this much pollution and commotion. He especially was not used to the human interaction. For a bizarre reason that I never understood, he despised humans. No matter how helpful they were in cases, he loathed them. He only spoke to fellow Mobians, which made it very hard to get a decent job. Eventually, we were evicted from our house. We literally had nowhere to go, and were aimlessly wandering the streets for quite some time. I was young then, but I remember it all. My father getting cancer, not being able to pay for it, being diagnosed as Level 5, and then losing him.

It was a mere 3 weeks after that day that I met Maria. I had been wandering the streets, all alone, with glares shot at me by humans passing by. Back then, Mobians weren't welcome with open arms. In fact, many of us were captured and brought in by humans for "examination." They acted as though we could not feel or think, but in contrary, we could. A lot of us had been living in great fear at that time, but I wasn't. I had Chaos energy on my side, and I was using it to benefit myself. It was the day that I met Maria that I chose to conceal my powers, opting to just using my super speed and superior intelligence.

Up until today that is.

Allowing yet another sigh to emit from me, I stared at a small figure making its way up the hill. To my surprise, it was easily climbing the incline, and by her body language, I could tell that she was a tad disgruntled, but was remained cheerful at the same time. It appeared she had caught sight of me, as she hurried her pace, half-walking half-running to meet me. I lifted up my arm and glanced at my wrist watch. It read 10:00 P.M. It was rare that I stayed up this late on Sundays for anything other than studying, but she had just told me the value of friendship in this world. I was taking her words into consideration.

"Hello Rose."

"Hi, Shadow," she said, a slightly uncomfortable tone enveloping her voice. I looked at her a moment, and found the source was my presence. I patted the area next to me, and she sat down.

It was a moment's silence, but throughout those few seconds I couldn't help but look at her. Her jade eyes sparkled, full of life as always. Her arms hand loosely at her sides, intertwined with the grass. A very slight frown played on her lips, while her quills brushed her face, falling out of their placement. I looked at her wistfully. It had happened so suddenly, but it had happened yesterday.

I was in love with Amy Rose.

But it wasn't for her looks, it was for her personality. She was willing to help people change; she fit perfectly in with the group, and was an optimist. Almost the opposite with me; I'll admit, I fit in pretty good with the group, since they were like family to me, but I wasn't exactly an optimist. I didn't look on the bright side of much, even when Maria was by my side.

"So," Amy said, breaking the comforting silence, "Why did you bring me here?"

"Well, you were wondering about," I took in a quick breath, "Maria, so I-"

"I already know," she said, abruptly interrupting me. I stared at her in pure astonishment. I had wanted to be the one to tell her, who had taken away this privilege? I continued to stare at her as she continued, "I visited Sonic after I saw you at her grave. He told me everything."

I felt myself clench my fists, and rip out a chunk of grass from the earth. Amy didn't notice, and continued to stare up at the sky. I took a minute to calm myself. Faker of all people had to tell Amy. Of course. Yet again, that pesky blue hedgehog had ruined my day. The perfection that I was hoping for.

"So, is that it?" Amy asked, starting to get up. I stared at her a moment, getting up myself after the pass of 30 seconds. She stood up a second later, and stared at me. Those jade eyes were so…entrancing. I couldn't stare at anything else.

"What did you feel?" I blurted out.

"Excuse me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, what was your emotion?"

"I felt…sad. I felt really bad for you. Now I understand why you shut everybody out. I think that you think that if you had kept a closer eye on Maria, she would've lived. You were really damaged by her death because you loved her so much. You don't want to feel that hurt again."

I stared at her, completely bewildered. There she went again, reading my mind perfectly. She understood me. She thought like me, she was perfect for me. Then I felt the sudden urge to do something. Something that I doubt that I will ever do again.

I kissed Amy Rose.

She was in pure shock after the moment, and stared at me. I looked back at her, and for once, a small smile adorning my expression.

"Amy, I don't think I need to ask you whether you want to be my girl. I already know your answer," I said with a slight smirk.

Still in a state of shock, the female numbly nodded her head, her jaw dropped. I chuckled slightly at her expression, and couldn't help but think how cute she looked like that.

With that, and a mock salute, I skated off. Looking back, I saw the lone figure, perched on the hill. Her arms wrapped around herself, and a smile upon a muzzle. I looked forward, and dodged a tree in my way. I guess Faker didn't ruin much, my night was still perfect.

I had found 95 percent of myself.

**DUN DUN DUN! IT'S OVER! Well, there's the sequel and everything. Until then, this is the end. I love you all so much! Please check out Collecting the Pieces, I know a lot of you guys are ShadAmy fans!**

**Signing off for the last time on 95 Percent Love,**

**MeadowHasCome**


End file.
